The phrase "family therapy techniques" presents problems. It brings to mind images of people manipulating others. Ghosts of brainwashing or control for personal power reasons haunt the mind. The ethical concern is completely justified. Furthermore, the technique alone does not guarantee effectiveness. If the therapist is focused on the technique, remaining a virtuoso, their contact with patients will be objective, detached, and clear, but also superficial, manipulative for the sake of personal power, and ultimately not particularly effective. Training in family therapy should therefore be a way of teaching techniques with the ultimate goal of mastering them and then forgetting them. The therapist must be a "doctor": a human being who cares to engage with other human beings therapeutically, addressing areas and issues that cause them pain, while at the same time holding great respect for their values, strengths, and aesthetic preferences. The goal, in other words, is to transcend the technique. Only a person who has mastered the technique and then managed to forget it can become an effective therapist.