Luciano L'Abate: Pioneer and Mentor

The current paper touches on a number of different topics from various publications, but is primarily derived from his numerous publications on relational competence theory and many other publications that span decades, including a recent book that critically reviewed systems theory and discussed ways to transcend systems theory. When he says tip of the iceberg it may be the understatement of the century given that he published hundreds of scientific papers and over 67 professional texts. Lu considered his relational competence theory to be his most important contribution to the field of family therapy. This theory focused on how families can function in healthy and unhealthy ways.