In this companion text to their volume Essential Skills in Family Therapy, Williams et al. (marital and family therapy, U. of San Diego) provide a guide for beginning therapists and students in family therapy, social work, clinical psychology, and counseling that overviews assessment for couples and families. They emphasize the clinical interview, but include discussion of assessment instruments, and present a biopsycho-social-systems model and a variety of theories, arguing that the best theory for a case will emerge from the data. They discuss the assessment of safety, health and well-being, and psychopathology and disorders in adults and children; family interaction, the multigenerational family through time, and couples; and treatment and all phases of therapy. Topics include sexual issues, infidelity, premarital counseling, same-sex couples, suicide, child and elder abuse, and domestic violence. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)