In an intimate conversation with Harlene Anderson, Lynn Hoffman discusses the evolution of the postmodern edge of family therapy. Hoffman has been the historian of many of the theories developed in family therapy and her relationships with the pioneers of these ideas. Particular attention is focused on the early eighties where she describes the differences in the views of the epistemologists (who were contruct-ivists and engineers) and the practitioners of family therapy. She also discusses the dilemma of finding the clinical work of social constructionism disappointing to audiences, questioning if they have preconceived ideas about what it is to be in conversation. This is an informative interview for those who don’t yet understand social constructionist ideas.
Running time: 56 minutes

Lynn Hofman, ACSW, is an internationally known figure in the field of family therapy. Author of Family Therapy: An Intimate History and Foundations of Family Therapy, co- author of Techniques of Family Therapy (with Jay Haley), as well as with Virginia Satir, Peggy Penn, Luigi Boscolo and Gianfranco Cecchin, she has also been an editor for Fam- ily Process and Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, She was a long-time faculty member of the Ackerman Institute and Smith College School of Social Work until her retirement in 2000. Currently she is a lecturer at St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford,Connecticut.