Honoring Jim Framo

By Celia Falicov

Jim Framo was a passionate pioneer of family therapy. A pioneer is somebody whose work is so embedded in the fabric of training and practice that all those who belong to the field use the ideas without knowing anymore who originated them. Almost four decades ago, Jim's writings helped integrate the more interactional, sociopsychological aspects of psychodynamic theory with family systems relational theory. This integration helped to lay the foundations for what have become some of the defining features of family of origin work in the context of couple and family therapy. The clinical methods Framo evolved from his work with couples group therapy have also influenced many practitioners. I first learned about the idea of "divorce therapy" from a sparkling workshop I attended led by Jim in the 1970s. I remember him as a very persuasive presenter, showing videos of families engaged in divorce work, including the intergenerational origins and current impact on all generations. In all of these endeavors, his theoretical depth was not only scholarly sound but it was consistently pragmatic, readily applicable to the attempt to heal difficult human emotions.

And what a writer Jim was! Sheer clarity flowed from his pen. I always enjoyed the aesthetic pleasure and the craft behind his precise choice of words. I always imagined that if Jim had not been a psychologist, he would have been a literature professor or a writer. His writings will endure, not only because of their significant content but also because the form is both compelling and accessible.

Perhaps Jim was such a clear writer because he was a man of courage, honesty and caring. Whether it was what he thought about where the field of family therapy was going as a discipline and as a profession, or about the future of AFTA or of AAMFT as organizations tied to a field, there was never complacency or indifference, but rather a wish either to tell a story as he saw it, or to engage in dialogue about controversial topics.

Chance events that happened in this past year have left me with recent vivid memories of Jim, memories that caused me to reflect about the intersection of the personal and the professional in our lives. On two occasions in 2001, I happened to meet Jim on line signing up for local workshops that granted continuing education credits to maintain California clinical practices. It was clearly an effort for Jim to ambulate, yet slowly but surely he was expressing his determination to go on being a clinician when he was nearing his 80s. Far from being a retiree basking in the San Diego sun, he was still an east coast hard worker who loved what he did and, as the satisfied clients that I referred to him reported to me six months ago, he still was doing it masterfully. Waiting to sign up in line, we kidded around about being two presidents of AFTA still having to go to class, and we mused as to whether we were just competing about who was the transported workaholic. But now I can see that these situations gave me the privilege of being a witness to a living example of the viability of career involvement and professional growth throughout life.

Jim's last caring gesture towards AFTA was another unplanned event that touched me deeply. When I invited him to attend the AFTA 2000 meeting in San Diego, Jim's health did not allow him to be present for the entire meeting but he chose to come to the Saturday night banquet. At some point during the dinner, he called me discreetly to his table and presented me, as representative of AFTA at the time, with a large black leather picture album that he had arranged over the years as a charter member and president of AFTA. They were photographs of AFTA's very early annual meeting banquets, board meetings and retreats. This is a very special gift that many generations will treasure. It speaks of Jim's attachment to AFTA as more than just an institutional involvement. The picture album not only added one more piece to the quilt of the many legacies that his conceptual thinking and practical skills have given to our acumen as families therapists, it also spoke to the healing power of revisiting history, a belief deeply ingrained in Jim Framo's own life work.

Celia Falicov, Ph.D., teaches at the University of California at San Diego and is the immediate Past President of AFTA.