Contributions of medical family therapy to the changing health care system.

Medical family therapy is a form of professional practice that uses a biopsychosocial approach and systemic family therapy principles in the collaborative treatment of individuals and families dealing with medical problems. It emerged out of the experience of family therapists working in primary medical care settings in the 1980s and 1990s. This article describes how contemporary medical family therapy can contribute to a transformed health care system in four areas: the patient experience of health care, the health of the population, the containment of health care costs, and enhanced practice environments.