family system therapy

1. Family Systems Therapy Heenach

2. Introduction Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy or a talk therapy, in which members of a family attend sessions together. The family group may be as small as two people and may be composed of people who live together or apart.

3. Family therapy focus is on the family or community system. Many ethnicand cultural groups place value on the role of the extendedfamily. Many family therapies deal with extended familymembers and with support systems. Networking is a partof the process, which is congruent with the values of manyclients. There is a greater chance for individual change ifother family members are supportive. This approach offersways of working toward the health of the family unit and thewelfare of each member.

4. Goal of family therapy Thegoalis usually to improve communication and connections between family members, resolve conflict, and potentially learn about a loved one's diagnosis. The use of systems theory to bring about change in the quality of life of the affected individuals and the resultant social systems that they are a part. It emphasizes the importance of the whole and not the individual parts and how the dynamics and inter dependence of the parts affect the system.

5. Why Family therapy ?? To help family members gain awareness of patterns ofrelationships that are not working well and to create new ways of interacting. Family systems therapy Focus is on communication patterns within a family, both verbal and nonverbal. Problems in relationships are likely to be passed on from generation to generation. Key concepts vary depending on specific orientation but include differentiation, triangles, power coalitions, family-of-origin dynamics, functional versus dysfunctional interaction patterns, and dealing with here-and-now interactions. The present is more important than exploring past experiences.

6. Historicalperspective Seeds of N. American family therapy movement planted in 1940s. During 1950s, systematic family therapy began to take root. Working with families was considered to be revolutionary approach in the treatment. Today, various approaches to family system represents a paradigm shift called fourth force.

7. Contributors to Family Systems Theory family systems therapy is represented by a variety of theories and approaches, all of which focus on the relational aspects of human problems. \ Some of the individuals most closely associated with the origins of these systemic approaches are featured here.

8. Contributors ALFRED ADLER(1870– 1937) 1st psychologist of the modern erato do family therapy usinga systemic approach. conductedfamily counseling sessions in an open public forum, educating parents and professionals in greater numbers; ; they believed the problems of any onefamily were common to all others in the community • MURRAY BOWEN(1913–1990) • was one of the original developers of mainstream family therapy. • comprehensive focus on a multicultural perspective in family therapy, believed families could best be understood when analyzed from athree-generation perspective • VIRGINIA SATIR(1916– 1988) • developed conjoint family therapy, a human validation process model that emphasizes communication and emotional experiencing. The core of Satir’s modelrelied on the power of congruence to help family members communicate with emotional honesty

9. CARL WHITAKER (1912–1995) • creator of symbolic-experientialfamily therapy, a freewheeling, intuitive approach to helping families open channels of interaction. His goal was to facilitate individual autonomy while retaining a sense of belonging in the family. He saw therapist as active participant & coach who enters family process wd creativity, putting enough pressure on this process to produce change in the status quo. From Whitaker, the field of familytherapy learned to tolerate and sometimes create anxiety in families—& then how to join familiesin their struggle to become more real and more transparent. • SALVADOR MINUCHINbegan to develop structural family therapy in the 1960s through his work wd delinquent boys from poor families . Refined& theory and practice of structural family therapy. Focusing on structure, or organization of family, therapist helps family modify its stereotyped pattern & redefine r/p among members. Family therapy developed understanding of power, organization, & alignments in family life, family therapists learned how to use themselves to set boundaries and even unbalance dysfunctional family systems. • JAY HALEY (1923–2007) • blended structural family therapy with the concepts of hierarchy, power, and strategic interventions. Madanes contributed to the development of a brief, solution-oriented therapy approach. • The strategic interventions most favored by Haley and Madanes were reframing,family directives, and paradoxical interventions. Strategic family therapy became the most popular family therapy approach in the1980s. • It is a pragmatic approach that focuses on solving problems in the present; understanding and insight are neither required nor sought.

10. The Family Systems Perspective

11. The Family Systems Perspective • Holds that ind R best understood through accessing the interaction b/w & among members. • The development and beh of one is inextricably interconnected with others in family. • Identified client’s problem might be symptoms of how family function, not just a symptom of family of ind’s maladjustment, history and psychosocial development.

12. Assumptions about problematic behavior Client’s beh his beh may may serve a function/purpose for the family Be unintentionally maintained by family processes Beh of client Problematic beh may May be function of family’s inability to operate productively esp during dev transition Be a symptom of dysfunctional pattern handed down across generation

13. Extinct Animals Family Life-cycle Family Characteristics Family Interactions Family Function Pollution • Family Systems Perspective

14. Differences Between Systemic and Individual Approaches There are significant differences b/w Systemic and Individual Approaches. • Ann, 22 , depression lasted for 2+ years ,impaired ability to work and maintained friendship. • She wants to feel better but is optimistic about her chances. How will a therapist choose to help her ???? • Both of the therapist are interested in • Current living situation • Life experiences • Both discover she’s living at home with parents in 60s. • note that her sis is successful prominent lawyer of the town Finally, both therapist note that her depression is affecting others as well as herself.

15. Individualtherapist Systemic therapist • Focus on obtaining accurate diagnosis using DSM. • begin therapy with Ann immediately. • Focus on the causes, purposes & cog, emotional & behavioral processes involved in Ann’s depression and coping. • Be concerned with Ann’s individual experiences and perspective. • Intervene in ways designed to help Ann cope. • Explores the systems for family processes & rules, perhaps using a genogram. • invite Ann along with sister , father and mother into therapy. • Focus on the family relationships within which Ann’s depression makes sense. • Be concerned with transgenerational meanings, rules , cultural & gender perspectives within the system, and even community & larger systems affecting the family. • Intervene in ways designed to help change Ann’s context.

16. It do not deny the importance of the individual in the family system, but believe an individual ‘s systematic affiliations & interactions have more power in the person’s life than a single therapist could ever hope to have. by working with a whole family or even community system, therapist has a chance to observe how individual act within the system and participate in maintaining status quo, how system influences /influenced by ind: & what interventions might lead to changes that help couple, family, or larger system as well as ind expressing pain.

17. In Ann’s case her depression may have organic, genetic and hormonal component. It may also involve cognitive, experiential, or behavioral patterns that interfere with cognitive coping. However, the systematic therapist is interested in how her depression affects others in the family & how it influences family processes. Rather than losing sight of the ind, family therapist understand the person as specifically embeded in larger systems.

18. Development of family systems therapy & personal development of the family therapist

19. The Family Systems Perspective • The family systems theory is a theory introduced by Dr.Murray Bowen that suggests that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit. • Individuals are best understood through assessing the interactions within an entire family .

20. The Family Systems Perspective • Family systems therapy is based on perspective which holds that individuals are inseparable from their network of relationships. • A family– is an interactional unit and a change in one member effects all members. • According to Bowen, changes in behavior of one family member are likely to have an influence on the way the family functions over time.

21. MODELS OF FAMILY THERAPIES AND THERAPIEST APPROACHES

24. MODELS AND APPROACHES ADLERIAN FAMILY THERAPY Adlerian use an educational model to counsel families • Emphasis is on family atmosphere and family constellation . Adlerian Theory suggests that birth order and the number of siblings affect a child's potential. Adler called upon the importance of understanding the “Family Constellation”: “It is a common fallacy to imagine that children of the same family are formed in the same environment. Therapists function as collaborators who seek to join the family . Parent interviews yield hunches about the purposes underlying children’s misbehavior .

25. Treatment goals   • Unlock mistaken goals and interactional patterns • Engage parents in a learning experience and a collaborative assessment Emphasis is on the family’s motivational patterns • Main aim is to initiate a reorientation of the family 

26. Multigenerational Family Therapy Multigenerational family therapy is based on Bowenian family systems theory which emphasizes the importance of family functioning in influencing the members’ respective behaviors.  It views present family dysfunctions as a product of generational patterns. Hence, this approach looks into family facts as they can give structure to repeated generational behaviors. Change must occur with other family members and cannot be done with an individual in a counseling room.

27. Triangulation Process In Bowenian family therapy, it is argued that a conflict between two people will resolve itself in the presence of a third person who can avoid emotional participation with either while relating actively to both . Typically, it is the therapist who takes on the nonanxious role and forms a triangle with a couple. While remaining emotionally unreactive, the therapist is able to induce change in the relationship that would not have occurred had the same things been said in the absence of the therapist.

28. Differentiation of Self Differentiation of self is a psychological state of being in which someone is able to maintain their sense of self, identity, thoughts, and emotions when emotionally or physically close with others, particularly within intense or intimate relationships.

29. Treatment Goals To end generation-to-generation transmission of problems by resolving emotional attachments • To change the individuals within the context of the system 1 2 3 4 • To increase the individual member’s level of differentiation  • • To lessen anxiety and relieve symptoms

30. Human Validation Process Model The human validation process (HVP) model given by Virginia Satir , is a systemic therapy approach that focuses on family growth and health rather than dysfunction and pathology. Use of existing strengths and resources within each family member . Change is not only considered possible, it is encouraged. The HVP model emphasizes the roles of self-esteem and communication in influencing family functioning and well being . Satir developed within her model ,conceptual styles of communication: placating, blaming, Irrelevance and Super reasonable.

31. Assumptions Satir held four assumptions: All people await the potential of growth and are capable of transformation; People carry all the resources they need for positive growth and development; Families are systems wherein everyone and everything impacts and is impacted by everyone and everything else; and The beliefs of counselors are more important than their techniques.

32. Experiential Family Therapy • Whitaker is the founder of experiential family therapy, or the symbolic-experiential approach to therapy. • Whitaker’s humanistic approach focused on getting at the heart of the feelings experienced by all members of a family. • He aimed to stir things up in therapy sessions and allow family members to express themselves more fully.

33. Experiential Family Therapy • Whitaker often called his work absurd as he used unconventional strategies, such as humor, play, and directness to try to draw out and expose family members. • Confrontation is common in experiential family therapy, but it is tempered with encouragement, support, and guidance from the therapist.

34. Structural Family Therapy • Designed by Salvador Minuchin, looks at family relationships, behaviors, and patterns as they are exhibited within the therapy session in order to evaluate the structure of the family. • Employing activities such as role play in session, therapists also examine subsystems within the family structure, such as parental or sibling subsystems. 

35. Treatment Goals • Reduce symptoms of dysfunction • Bring about structural change by: – Modifying the family’s transactional rules – Developing more appropriate boundaries – Creation of an effective hierarchical structure

36. Strategic Family Therapy • Clinician actively identifies concrete problems, sets goals, designs specific interventions, and checks constantly to see if all this activity is actually working. • Therapy is brief, present -focused, and solution-oriented • The therapist designs strategies for change • Change results when the family follows therapist’s directions & change transactions .

37. Treatment Goals • • Get people to behave differently . • Shift the family organization so that the presenting problem is no longer functional . • • Move the family toward the appropriate stage of family development . • Problems often arise during the transition from one developmental stage to the next .

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