[Family psychotherapy in medical institutions of the Instituto del Servicio de Seguridad Social de los Trabajadores del Estado].

The evolution of family therapy in Mexico is briefly reviewed. It is considered that the reach of this method is limited in institutions due to the lack of qualified psychotherapists with the different orientations of this speciality. The illness, as a sign of family imbalance within the humanistic concept, acquires an even if the treatment is given to the marital couple, the adolescent or the child. Family therapy helps in marital disagreements, behavior problems, anorexia, reactive depression, drug addictions, alcoholism and many other problems. The ISSSTE population has a stable location and is more or less homogeneous; in it family therapy is stimulating and possible; even though the institution imposes certain limitations to family therapy, the enthusiasm for this therapeutic method prevails.