Madsen (collaborative and narrative therapies, Family Institute of Cambridge) addresses family therapists, offering advice for providing best care to "difficult" or "multi- stressed" families when they themselves may be under overwhelming institutional and financial pressures. Chapters explore strategies for assessing clients, engaging reluctant families, and helping families maintain collaborative skills outside of sessions. Material is centered around four conceptual developments that ask a therapist to: recognize the importance of relational stance with families, view clients as being in a relationship with the problems in their lives, develop a proactive vision to guide work with clients, and engage in collaborative inquiry. Updates in this second edition address new challenges to therapists who use nontraditional approaches within hierarchical systems. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)