Transcript Family Systems Theory & Concepts

Family Systems Theory &
Concepts
Some Major Family Therapy
Approaches
 ————
- Behavioral
 Virginia Satir - Communication
 Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy - Contextual
 Salvador Minuchin - Structural
 Jay Haley - Strategic
 David & Jill Scharff - Object Relations
 Murray Bowen - Multigenerational
Past or Present? An Important
Distinction in FT Approaches
 Two
basic approaches:
• Ahistorical - Communication, Strategic,
Structural, Behavioral
• Historical - Object Relations,
Multigenerational (Bowenian)
Behavioral Approach
Is ahistorical & is concerned with how, when, where,
& what rather than why. Reward/punishment norm.
Guided by "the basic belief that behavior is
determined more by its consequences than by its
antecedents."
(Dorothy & Raphael Becvar, Family Therapy: A System Integration,2nd ed., Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1993, 257)
Focus is upon having the couple/family members
increase the frequency of positive behavior.
See Richard Stuart, Helping Couples Change, NY: Guilford, 1980)
Communications Approach
 Focuses
upon “the redundant patterns of
communication and interaction within and
between systems.” (Becvar & Becvar, Family Therapy, 211)
Clear, congruent messages are necessary for
healthy family relationships.
 Incongruent communication styles/stances
include: placating, blaming, super-reasonable, &
irrelevant or distracting.

Contextual Family Therapy
Transgenerational, psychoanalytical approach that
focuses upon fairness in family relationships,
equitability, trustworthiness, & loyalty. Seeks to
uncover & resolve family "obligations" and "debts"
incurred over time. Discusses "loyalty" and
"legacy;" thrust is to establish or restore
trustworthiness in family relationships. Therapist
does not take a prescriptive, restructuring role, nor a
reframing one; instead, elicits family members'
thinking about the other persons' perspectives as well
as their own.
Structural Family Therapy
Salvador Minuchin – worked with poverty-stricken,
underprivileged families grappling with day-to-day survival
(Philadelphia Child Guidance Center).
Structuralism refers to the identification of codes that
regulate human behavior. Identifies the regulating
codes in reference to boundaries, alignment, &
power. Uses three "challenging" strategies to
address the family's symptom, structure, & reality.
Therapist takes a very active and manipulative role.
Strategic or Problem-Solving
Family Therapy
Jay Haley – worked with Minuchin from 1967-76. Began
Family Therapy Institute in Washington, D.C. in 1976.
Developed a brief, problem-focused approach. Contends that
"change occurs not through insight and understanding but
through the process of the family carrying out directives
issued by the therapist." (Becvar & Becvar, Family Therapy, 193)
Concerned principally with four interrelated elements:
symptoms, metaphors, hierarchy, & power. Strong emphasis
on symptoms which are seen as a way of communicating
metaphorically within the family. Therapist adopts an
authoritative stance that is highly directive & uses very
manipulative procedures.
Object Relations family Therapy
A psychoanalytic approach that focuses on the family by
"listening, responding to unconscious material, interpreting,
developing insight, and working in the transference and
countertransference toward understanding & growth."
"Insight occurs when we can see together that the way the
family relates to the therapist reflects the transference of
repressed feelings and behavior rooted in earlier experiences
with the families of origin. The therapeutic relationship
offers an environment similar enough to stimulate this
emergence but different enough to allow reworking."
(David & Jill Scharff, Object Relations Family Therapy, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1987, 3)
Bowenian Family Theory Concepts
Murray Bowen – clinical work with schizophrenics & their
families at the Menninger Clinic & NIMH. Provides theory
base to bridge psychodynamic and systems approaches.
8 interlocking concepts or forces shaping family functioning
include:
1) Differentiation of Self
2) Triangles
3) Nuclear Family Emotional System
4) Family Projection Process
5) Emotional Cutoff
6) Multigenerational Transmission Process
7) Sibling Positions
8) Societal Regression
Bowenian Theory
See Handout:
"Some Bowenian Family Systems Theory Concepts"