Family Therapist Salvador Minuchin.

Family therapist Salvador Minuchin. (mi-NOO-chin). In the early 50's, he helped launch the field of family therapy, shifting the focus of psychotherapy from the individual to the entire family. He's also known for aggressive, short-term intervention for dealing with delinquent children and anorectic girls. His books include "Families of the Slums," a look at the impact of poverty on a family; "Family Kaleidoscope," based on observations of families in London, England; and "Family Therapy Techniques," which he co-authored.

Evan Imber-Black is a family therapist who has written the new book "The Secret Life of Families: Truth Telling, privacy and reconciliation in a tell all society." (Bantam) She makes the distinction about what is a private matter and what is a secret. She is the director of program development at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City and a professor of psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Allegra Goodman's latest novel is called "This Is Not About Us." But our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, says that title is coy. Goodman's readers are bound to see aspects of themselves and their families in these pages. Here's her review.