Single-parent families have increased dramatically over the past decade, and it is estimated that by 1990, half of all children will have spent at least some time in a single-parent family. This paper briefly reviews the literature dealing with some of the unique problems that single-parent, female-headed families face, including role overload, economic hardship, social isolation, feelings of loss and grief, and problems with the non-custodial parent. The effects of single-parent families on children are also explored, including behavior problems and depression. Several clinical vignettes are presented that exemplify some of the problems psychotherapists see when working with single-parent families. These problems and cases are viewed from a brief strategic therapy orientation model that assumes: (1) problems develop because of interactional rather than intra-psychic difficulties; (2) problems arise out of everyday interactions; (3) problems result from either over- or under-emphasis of an ordinary difficulty; (4) problems are maintained through repeated application of inappropriate or ineffectual solutions; and (5) interruption of inappropriate or ineffective solutions will eliminate the problem. (JAC)