The role of family therapy in a clinic for developmentally delayed preschoolers is examined. Two types of families are said to benefit from the family therapy approach: families in which the child's needs are misunderstood or somehow misread, and families whose dysfunctional transactional patterns antedated the child's problems. Initial screening and assessment sessions are described, as are approaches to "seducing" the family into therapy. Collaboration with other therapists, and sophistication about child development, are explained to be requirements of the family therapist. (CL)