This chapter shows the ways in which disablement affects and interacts with family relationships and functioning. It examines the reactions, resources, coping strategies, pitfalls, and special issues that arise. When disability occurs, the entire family begins an adaptive struggle to regain its equilibrium. The disability of one may alter the lifestyles of family members as much or more than that of the disabled individual: schedules, duties, plans, and roles all change. Communication patterns also influence the way in which a family copes with disability. Understanding the resources that each family brings to the rehabilitation process as well as the points of vulnerability that may complicate it is critically important. Rehabilitation workers often feel constrained from acknowledging negative feelings about their patients or clients, thus, dislikes, frustrations, and disappointments may be ejected from consciousness as inappropriate or unprofessional lapses from the ideal image for which they strive.