Peoplemaking

I pulled this off the shelf at the clinic I now work in - it's a classic for a reason. Satir wrote this for parents, and I cannot think of descriptions that are more clear, concise, and compassionate than Satir's as she explored communication, self-esteem, and the complex dynamics of family systems. I was going to write that my one quibble is that it's now outdated - a fair amount of heteronormative assumptions, etc. - except that once you get to the last chapter, Satir pointed to divorce, cohabitation and child-rearing without marriage, same-sex relationships, and polyamory and said, “What if all the practices that are now going on, which we have labelled as morally bad, were instead really evidence of the great variations in human beings?” In 1972! Way to preach, lady, and be WAY on the right side of history! Threaded throughout the book is the compelling idea that, in whatever form they take, families are how people are made, and the fate of the species thus rests on how supportive families are, and how supported they are, as well.