Relationships among family, school, and clinic: Toward a Systems Approach

The importance of working with families and schools when child problems arise is asserted, and issues associated with this undertaking are explored from the perspective of a child clinic. The authors are developing a systems framework based on the contributions of Hobbs (1965) and Bowen (1978). A case is presented which illustrates the theory and practice of this approach. The systems framework has been used by the authors and their colleagues to make sense of their experience with families and schools and to increase their understanding of how to work with these systems.