The interpersonal structures of interviews by Ackerman, Bowen, Jackson, and Whitaker with the same family were examined to (a) determine the extent of similarity and (b) identify common features across counselors. Multidimensional scaling provided a spatial representation of the "hidden" structure in the communication patterns of these interviews. Each of the four analyses showed two dimensions that explained most of the variance, 72%-85%. Correlations among the four two-dimensional solutions were high, especially between Ackerman and Whitaker (.75) and Bowen and Jackson (.99), indicating that these counselors' interactions with the family were remarkably similar. The therapists', postinterview impressions of the family suggested a basis for understanding the similarities and variability in the four spatial configurations. Interpretation suggested that all the counselors joined the family from a position of power, respecting the parents' distress and the established hierarchy by interacting more with them than with the children. Bowen and Jackson aligned themselves closely with the parents, whereas Ackerman and Whitaker were at the edge of the family. Discussion focuses on common features in counselors' work with families and how multidimensional scaling can chart changes in family structure over the course of counseling.Although an increasing number of counselors work with families, there is a notable absence of literature on family treatment by counseling psychologists. Recently, however, counseling psychologists' interest in working with families has grown (Bussod & Jacobson, 1983;Graziano, 1983;Levant, 1983). Research on the process of family counseling, unfortunately, has lagged behind practice. Whereas intensive comparisons of different counselors' approaches to the same individual client have been undertaken (Hill,