What with neurotic mothers and absent fathers, the family unit itself can be held accountable for most childhood psychological problems. Many parents are crying out for help, paralysed by a sense of guilt that may or may not be founded. Based on clinical studies and his own long practice in the field, Alameda shows how each suffering family can become its own best therapist, once it relearns to use the resources paralysed by history and modern culture. Far from being general, guilt-mongering, or infantilizing, Alameda's book concretely examines the seven situations that, today, are the most common reasons for seeking family therapy.

Antoine Alameda is director at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic at the Hospital of Toulon-la-Seyne.