Handbook of Family Resilience

Resilience is a topic that is currently receiving increased attention. In general, resilience refers to the capacity of those who, even under the most stressful circumstances, are able to cope, to rebound, and to go on and thrive. Resilient families are able to regain their balance following crises that arise as a function of either nature or nurture, and to continue to encourage and support their members as they deal with the necessary requirements for accommodation, adaptation and, ultimately, healthy survival. Handbook of Family Resilience provides a broad body of knowledge regarding the traits and patterns found to characterize resilient individuals and well-functioning families, including those with diverse structures, various ethnic backgrounds and a variety of non-traditional forms. This Handbook brings together a variety of perspectives aimed at understanding and helping to facilitate resilience in families relative to a full range of challenges.

Dorothy Becvar is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist with 30 years of experience in both academia and private practice. Dorothy is a former Editor of Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal. She has published extensively and in addition to many journal articles and book chapters is the author of the books Families that Flourish: Facilitating Resilience in Clinical Practice (Norton, 2007), In the Presence of Grief: Helping Family Members Resolve Death, Dying and Bereavement Issues (Guilford Press, 2001) and Soul Healing: A Spiritual Orientation in Counseling and Therapy (Basic Books, 1997) as well as the editor of the book The Family, Spirituality and Social Work (Haworth, 1997). With her husband, Raphael J. Becvar, she has co-authored four books: Family Therapy: A Systemic Integration (Allyn & Bacon, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009), Pragmatics of Human Relationships (Geist & Russell, 1998), Hot Chocolate for a Cold Winter's Night: Essays for Relationship Development (Love Publishing, 1994), and Systems Theory and Family Therapy: A Primer (University Press of America, 1982, 1999). And she is co-editor, with William Nichols, Mary Anne Pace-Nichols and Augustus Napier, of the Handbook of Family Development and Intervention (Wiley, 2000).