Gerald Corey

Cengage Learning

Copyright © 2017 Cengage Learning

Family Systems Therapy

Copyright © 2017 Cengage Learning

  Individuals are best understood through assessing the
interactions within an entire family

 A family is an interactional unit and a change in one

member effects all members

 A systems orientation broadens the traditional

emphasis on individual internal dynamics

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (1)

 Symptoms are viewed as an expression of a dysfunction

within a family

 Problematic behaviors:
 Serve a purpose for the family
 Are unintentionally maintained by family processes
 Reflect the family’s inability to operate productively
 Are symptomatic patterns handed down across
generations

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (2)

  Developed by Alfred Adler, AFT is based on an
educational model that emphasizes family atmosphere
and family constellation

 Therapists are collaborators who seek to join the family

 Parent interviews yield hunches about the purposes

underlying children’s misbehavior

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (3)

 A theoretical and clinical model developed by Murray

Bowen that evolved from psychoanalytic principles and
practices

 The family is viewed as an emotional unit

 Unresolved emotional reactivity to one’s family must be

addressed if one hopes to achieve a mature personality

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (4)

 Differentiation of the self
 A psychological separation from others

 Triangulation
 A third party is recruited to reduce anxiety and stabilize
a couples’ relationship

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (5)

 To change the individuals within the context of the

system

 To end generation-to-generation transmission of

problems by resolving emotional attachments

 To lessen anxiety and relieve symptoms

 To increase the individual member’s level

of differentiation

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (6)

  Created by Salvador Minuchin, this approach focuses
on family interactions to understand the structure, or
organization of the family

 Symptoms are a byproduct of structural failings

 Structural changes must occur in a family before an

individual’s symptoms can be reduced

 Techniques are active, directive, and well thought out

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (7)

 Reduce symptoms of dysfunction and bring about

structural change by:

 Modifying the family’s transactional rules

 Developing more appropriate boundaries

 Creating an effective hierarchical structure

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (8)

  Jay Haley developed this approach, which is often used
in combination with Structural Family Therapy

 Presenting problems are accepted as “real” and not a

symptom of system dysfunction

 Therapy is brief, process-focused, and solution-oriented

 Change results when the family follows the therapist’s

directions and change transactions

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (9)

 Resolve presenting problems by focusing on behavioral

sequences

 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

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (10)

  In recent times, feminism, multiculturalism, and
postmodern social constructionism have all entered
the family therapy field

 These models are more collaborative, treating clients—

individuals, couples, or families—as experts in their
own lives

 These models represent a real paradigm shift in the

field of family therapy

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (11)

 Families are multilayered systems that both affect and

are affected by the larger systems in which they are
embedded

 Both members and the system can be assessed based

on power, alignment, organization, structure,
development, culture, and gender

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (12)

  Many ethnic and cultural groups place great value on
the extended family

 Monica McGoldrick has been the most influential

leader in the development of gender and cultural
perspectives in family practice

 The individual culture of the family, the larger cultures

to which the family members belong, and host culture
that dominates the family’s life are explored

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (13)

 The process of differentiation occurs in most cultures,

but it takes on a different shape due to cultural norms

 Some practitioners may erroneously assume Western

models of family are universal

 Some family therapists focus primarily on the nuclear

family, which is based on Western notions

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (14)

  In most systemic approaches, neither the individual nor
the family is blamed for a particular dysfunction

 An individual is not scapegoated as the “bad person” in

the family

 Identifying and exploring internal, developmental, and

purposeful interactional patterns empowers the family

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (15)

 An overemphasis on the system may result in the

unique characteristics and needs of individuals being
overlooked

 Practitioners must not assume that Western models of

family are universal and must be culturally competent

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 14 (16)