Most mental health professionals today have emerged from training systems with individualistic and compartmentalized orientations. The ecological perspective, however, is a contextual approach which works at the interface between families and the broader ecology or ecosystem of the child; the approach is not new but has not been widely adopted due to the lack of illustrative material available for practitioners. Through an approach more descriptive and explanatory than empirical, the author shows the clinician (or other child care professional) why the child's environment is crucial and provides techniques to draw people in the child's environment into the healing process. Contents: Introductory Concepts; Historical Perspective; Theoretical Concepts; Assessment; Intervention Issues; Social Network Concepts and Strategies; Ecologically Oriented Programs; DiscussionóToward Ecological Consciousness.