Consultation with the extended family: Primary process in clinical practice

In this article, the authors have attempted to describe a method from their pattern of experiential family psychotherapy and to demonstrate its usefulness. Consultations with the extended family serve many purposes, but the one the authors highlight is the way they provide access to the unconscious components of the family. The extended family consultation interview is like an emotional hot tub that precipitates what the authors call a family group psychosis, an inherently therapeutic experience.