The Power of the Family

The author of Superimmunity and Super Marital Sex here explores the thesis that there is power in family relationships to promote healthy human development. From his clinical practice, he chooses five families who illustrate ways that ``being family seemed to be causing psychological and physical hardiness, not pathology.'' In practical steps that he calls the ``10 Rxs'' of healthy family living, Pearsall lays out prescriptions with which family members, alone or in the group, may experiment. His advocacy for the family point of view and the power it generates is shown to work, not least in his own family's support during his experience with cancer. (Jan.)