Many illnesses, disabilities, or disorders can have profound effects upon family life. With a shift to community care in the 1980s, the burden on family members was increasing. Relatives had often been ignored by helping agencies, and professional theories about family disorders had sometimes encouraged a negative attitude towards relatives. The intention of Coping With Disorder in the Family, originally published in 1987, was to provide those who helped family members with a sounder basis of knowledge upon which to base their practice.

Each chapter in this book was written by someone who knew the problems which faced family members attempting to cope with a particular kind of family disorder. These problems are described with the help of frequent examples, and practical guidance is given about the ways in which helping agencies can aid and strengthen family members and involve them fully in the treatment process. The book combines theory and practice and was an important book for a wide audience of practitioners and students in a variety of different disciplines and agencies at the time, including general practitioners, nurses, occupational therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and voluntary agencies.