One factor consistently overlooked in the literature of both empirical research and treatment intervention strategies is the role of the father in the development and treatment of childhood disturbances. In declaring the mother-child relationship as the setting within which childhood disturbances occur, researchers assumed that the father was almost an irrelevant entity in the child's world. A review of the literature on the father's role shows four areas most relevant to childhood disturbances: (1) self esteem and personality adjustment; (2) anxiety and maladjustment; (3) impulse control and social consciousness, and (4) antisocial behavior. These results suggest that the father-child relationship is at least as important as the mother-child relationship. Three factors make a case for including the father in the treatment of the troubled child. First, although the nature of the family is undergoing drastic changes, the father continues to hold a central position in the two parent family. Second, his participation in family therapy is associated with successful treatment outcome. Third, the father has been found to be the most difficult family member to engage in family therapy and is most often the reason families drop out of treatment. (JAC)