39:"Carl Whitaker was one of the founding generation of family therapists who broke the rules of the psychotherapeutic orthodoxies of the time, such as that therapy focused on a single client and was totally divorced from family life," said Richard Simon, editor of The Family Therapy Networker, a leading publication in the field. "His idea was that the entire family was the client." Dr. Whitaker, known for his charm and charismatic manner, was one of the most powerful voices in shaping the practice of family therapy as it began to develop in the 1960s. Often provocative in his teaching, he told one interviewer, "Every marriage is a battle between two families struggling to reproduce themselves."
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worked with "heart sense." Rather than intervene on behavioral sequences like strategic-systemic therapists, Whitaker focused on the emotional process and family structure. He intervened directly at the emotional level of the system, relying heavily on "symbolism" and real life experiences as well as humor, play, and affective confrontation.
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that he wanted to expose, challenge, and transform. He was adamant about balancing strong emotional confrontation with warmth and support from the therapist. In many ways, he encouraged therapists to move beyond the rules of polite society and invite all participants to be genuine and real enough to speak the whole truth.
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Whitaker was a native of
Syracuse, NY, where he attended high school, university, and medical school. Whitaker received his M.D. from Syracuse University in 1936. After a residency in obstetrics and gynecology, Whitaker began to work in 1938 in a psychiatric hospital, and soon became fascinated by
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Whitaker referred to his work as "therapy of the absurd," highlighting the unconventional and playful wisdom he used to help transform family. Relying almost entirely on emotional logic rather than cognitive logic, his work is often misunderstood as nonsense, but it is more accurate to say that he
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For the astute observer, Whitaker's work embodied a deep and profound understanding of families' emotional lives; to the casual observer, he often seemed rude or inappropriate. When he was "inappropriate," it was always for the purpose of confronting or otherwise intervening on emotional dynamics
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the challenge of treating people with schizophrenia. Observing that some patients seemed to recover only to have their problems re-emerge when they returned to their families, Whitaker began to focus on treating the whole family rather than the one patient.
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After his retirement
Whitaker continued to teach and lecture widely, and he and his wife, Muriel Schram Whitaker, consulted with and supervised family therapists around the world. His last book,
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written with Dr. Augustus Napier in 1978, which became a highly influential work in the field. In 1982 Whitaker's major articles on family therapy were collected in
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Whitaker, C.A. (1975; 1999). The
Symptomatic Adolescent – an AWOL Family Member, in M. Sugar (Ed.)
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in 1965 until his retirement in 1982. During his tenure at the
University of Wisconsin
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Whitaker, C.A. (1976). The
Technique of Family Therapy. In G.P. Sholevar (Ed.)(1977).
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family therapy, and his national influence on the emerging field grew stronger.
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From 1946 Whitaker served as
Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at
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A number of
Whitaker's ideas about family therapy are presented in
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New York: Brunner/Mazel. (2nd
Edition, New Jersey: Jason Aronson).
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32:(1912–1995) was an American physician and psychotherapy pioneer
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and their families. He became a professor of psychiatry at the
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244:
From psyche to system: The evolving therapy of Carl
Whitaker
180:: Allyn and Bacon/Longman publishing; retrieved 17 Jan 2008.
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Dancing With the Family: A Symbolic-experiential Approach.
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Therapist profile at Allyn & Bacon Family Therapy site
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Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
1135:Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
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1125:Association for the Advancement of Psychotherapy
232:Napier, A.Y. & Whitaker, C.A. (1978; 1988).
1140:Association for Behavior Analysis International
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192:: New York Times Obit; retrieved 19 Dec 2010.
161:: New York Times Obit; retrieved 19 Dec 2010.
149:: New York Times Obit; retrieved 19 Dec 2010.
51:He is credited for the co-development of the
251:Whitaker, C.A. & Bumberry, W.A. (1988).
106:edited by John R. Neill and David Kniskern.
217:The Adolescent in Group and Family Therapy.
79:, where he focused on treating people with
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205:Whitaker, C.A. & Malone, T.P. (1953).
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263:Midnight Musings of a Family Therapist.
113:was published in 1988 by W. W. Norton.
111:Midnight Musings of a Family Therapist,
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1145:European Association for Psychotherapy
226:Changing sexual values and the family.
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241:Neil, J. & Kniskern, D. (1982).
430:Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
55:approach to therapy and the use of
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1150:Society for Psychotherapy Research
378:Transference focused psychotherapy
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435:Rational emotive behavior therapy
408:Functional analytic psychotherapy
403:Acceptance and commitment therapy
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229:Springfield, Ill: Charles Thomas.
1201:20th-century American physicians
299:Carl Whitaker Project – Archival
1155:World Council for Psychotherapy
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190:Obituary via The New York Times
159:Obituary via The New York Times
147:Obituary via The New York Times
89:University of Wisconsin–Madison
85:University of Wisconsin–Madison
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16:American physician (1912–1995)
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368:Mentalization-based treatment
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425:Dialectical behavior therapy
415:Cognitive behavioral therapy
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455:Emotionally focused therapy
238:New York: Harper & Row.
208:The Roots of Psychotherapy.
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726:Systematic desensitization
655:Practitioner–scholar model
398:Clinical behavior analysis
292:September 7, 2015, at the
1191:American psychotherapists
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737:Other individual therapy
257:New York: Brunner/Mazel.
759:Cognitive restructuring
480:Person-centered therapy
282:New York Times Obituary
1186:American psychiatrists
690:Contingency management
569:Transtheoretical model
559:Eclectic psychotherapy
536:Transactional analysis
260:Whitaker C.A. (1989).
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640:Common factors theory
604:Residential treatment
104:From Psyche to System
93:symbolic-experiential
53:symbolic-experiential
30:Carl Alanson Whitaker
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1069:Lorna Smith Benjamin
904:Harry Stack Sullivan
829:Sensitivity training
630:Clinical formulation
266:New York: WW Norton.
235:The Family Crucible.
211:New York: Blakiston.
100:The Family Crucible,
801:Group psychotherapy
712:Counterconditioning
589:Brief psychotherapy
460:Existential therapy
25:Carl Whitaker, M.D.
929:Milton H. Erickson
764:Emotion regulation
744:Autogenic training
635:Clinical pluralism
564:Multimodal therapy
363:Analytical therapy
176:2007-06-27 at the
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1196:Family therapists
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1089:William R. Miller
1074:Marsha M. Linehan
1044:Jean Baker Miller
1004:Salvador Minuchin
884:Ludwig Binswanger
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672:Behaviour therapy
599:Online counseling
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516:Narrative therapy
420:Cognitive therapy
277:Carl Whitaker Bio
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1079:Vittorio Guidano
1049:Otto F. Kernberg
919:Donald Winnicott
776:Free association
721:Exposure therapy
700:Stimulus control
680:Aversion therapy
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814:Couples therapy
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1118:Associations
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1054:Nathan Azrin
1029:Arthur Janov
989:Joseph Wolpe
974:Albert Ellis
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954:George Kelly
939:Erik Erikson
899:Karen Horney
869:Alfred Adler
864:Pierre Janet
854:Josef Breuer
786:Hypnotherapy
521:Play therapy
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1014:Haim Ginott
944:Carl Rogers
909:Fritz Perls
824:Psychodrama
749:Biofeedback
551:Integrative
496:Art therapy
475:Logotherapy
1170:Categories
999:Aaron Beck
914:Anna Freud
809:Co-therapy
664:Techniques
594:Counseling
582:Approaches
447:Humanistic
390:behavioral
134:References
43:Background
959:Rollo May
894:Otto Rank
879:Carl Jung
609:Self-help
791:Modeling
781:Homework
685:Chaining
623:Research
465:Focusing
290:Archived
174:Archived
117:See also
695:Shaping
650:History
342:Schools
842:People
71:Career
489:Other
541:List
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