JIM FRAMO MEMORIAL

By Raymundo Macias

I first met Jim back in 1970, on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the Family Institute of New York (now Ackerman Institute). It was an impressive gathering. Almost all of the pioneers, and the most distinguished contributors to the field at that time, were there. Virginia Satir, with whom I had become acquainted a couple of years previously, had been working with our group in Mexico City. She convinced us to go to New York. Three other colleagues from our training program and myself went, and we'll never forget it. She introduced us to many important people, Jim among them. He impressed me by his kindness, warmth, easy going way and humility. Jim, David Rubinstein and Sal Minuchin invited us to visit them in Philadelphia, and we took them up on their offer before returning to Mexico.

The morning we visited Jim, at E.P.P.I., he allowed us to observe his work with a group of couples. His soft manner and gentleness made things appear so easy! That afternoon, after lunch with Jim and David, we went to the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and joined Jay Haley to watch a family session conducted by Sal, through the one way mirror. So many experiences. What a day to remember!

From that visit, two commitments came out. First, Jim agreed to come to Mexico and run a four day workshop with Virginia. They did in the spring of 1971. It was a marvelous experience to see them working together, joining and supporting each other, each one doing their own piece, and even jointly interviewing a simulated family to demonstrate the possibilities of co-therapy. There was not an iota of competitiveness.

The second commitment, made explicit during Jim's visit, was our agreement to be instrumental in the publication and technical revision, in Spanish, of one of the most important and pioneering contributions to our field in those days, "Intensive Family Therapy," edited jointly by Jim and Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy. It was finally published by Editorial Trillas, Mexico, a few years later.

In November of 1972, having being invited to the first Conference of Training Programs in Family Therapy, a small group from our program went back to Philadelphia, and I visited Jim again. I shared with him our excitement at having starting our own Family Institute and Jim's gentle and caring support was there as always. It was then that my initial and developing friendship with him was consolidated.

Years went by, and in February 1978 we met again. This time it was in Cancun, Mexico, during a meeting of the Associated Editors Board of "Family Process" to which I had been invited. There, Jim and Murray Bowen announced their decision to found the American Family Therapy Association, as an open space for a selective and high level interchange among the recognized professionals in the field. It was Jim who encouraged me to join the Association and it was during Jim's presidency that I got more involved with AFTA matters. From the first annual meeting I attended in Boston, he and I met regularly at those meetings as well as at others in the field. We shared our common interests about families of origin, the dialogue between clinicians and researchers, and our concern about opening space for new trends and newcomers, without discarding sound and solid contributions from old timers. We always tried to preserve and increase that special feeling of bonding that we felt from the beginning of our friendship.

Not so long ago, in 1997, Jim was programmed to be one of our most distinguished guests at the XXV Anniversary International Conference of our own Instituto de la Familia, in Mexico. I was very sorry when he called me to say how much he regretted not being able to join us and other old, dear and close friends during our celebration. That was the last opportunity we had to have Jim back, in person, with us in Mexico. But Jim, you can bet you were with us in spirit, as you always will be with us. Your teachings and humanity will remain with us forever.

Raymundo Macias MD., is Professor, Psychology Faculty UNAM & Founding President of Instituto de la Familia, Mexico. He has been President of IFTA & Board member of AFTA, APAL and other international organizations. Dr. Macias practices in Mexico City and has taught and supervised widely in family, couples and individual therapy, all around Mexico and abroad.