The paradox of the contemporary family is that it is both patriarchal and father-absent. Family therapists reproduce these problems by blaming mothers, protecting fathers, ignoring issues of race and class, and settling for superficial symptom relief. In The Family Interpreted, Deborah Anna Luepnitz proposes a new practice grounded in psychoana-lytic feminism. Since its publication in 1988, this intelligent, irreverent, and incorrigibly witty book has become a classic, admired by the therapeutic community and feminist scholars. Luepnitz's work has permanently altered the debate about families, culture, and psychological change.