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Principles of family systems theory
Principles of family systems theory
Structural family therapy research paper
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Structural family therapy theory and techniques can be found in many facets in therapy. Structural family therapy looks at the family’s systems and boundaries as a whole; as well as, each member’s systems and boundaries in the family. After identifying the systems and boundaries, structural mapping, techniques are used to help address a family’s problems. Techniques such as enactment, boundary making, and joining, are used to strengthen and develop healthy boundaries; as well as, end or weaken boundaries that may try to cause triangulation, negative coalitions, or negative boundaries that affect the family. Also how effective structural family therapy can be for different situations. One technique, enactment, involves family members to discuss …show more content…
Structural family therapy is used to see how the client’s boundaries within their family and the subsystems outside of the family. With the use of structural mapping, the process of developing and evaluating a family’s boundaries, and enactment the family therapist and family will work on eliciting changes in the family dynamic by encouraging family members to reflect on their own behaviors within the family dynamic (Fisher et al., 2010). When changing the family dynamics to be more encouraging, in this case about nutrition and eating healthy, it helps families find different results for the same …show more content…
This therapy is called brief strategic family therapy (BSFT). Not only does it look at systemic relationships within the family and boundary issues, but develops a treatment that is more problem-focused to address family issues (Szapocznik et al., 2012). BSFT works well with adolescent who have behavioral problems, substance abuse, associations with antisocial peers, and impaired family functioning. BSFT looks at a teenager’s boundaries, family structure, and creates changes in the boundaries by strategically intervening to alter the boundaries (Szapocznik et al., 2012). Overall, BSFT has been shown to have reduce substance abuse in teenagers, helped with conduct behavior problems, and is more likely to have family engagement to develop change (Szapocznik et al.,
For Bowen, the family is the unit of observation and the emphasis is put on emotional forces that are common to all families, this helps to reduce the significance of which family member is causing the problem. Bowens approach to change is understood within the context of striving to understand life’s forces, the very principal that gives coherence to Bowens approach to therapy. (Friedman, 1991). When attempting to achieve change within a client the source of the issue is less important, but rather trying to locate the systematic forces within a family as well as those that are transmitted from generation...
Salvador Minuchin is the individual that is notably recognized as it pertains to the structural family therapy. Salvador Minuchin was born in born 1921 born and raised in San Salvador, Entre Ríos, Argentina. Minuchin was a family therapist who developed structural family therapy. Minuchin began his studies in 1944 as a medical student in Argentina and graduated and began his residency in 1946 working with children in pediatrics. Minuchin relocated to Israel in 1948 to work as a physician to work with Jewish soldier’s who had survived the holocaust. In 1950 Minuchin relocated to the United States and resided in New York City where he began working as a resident with children that were deemed to be psychotic. Becvar and Becvar (2013)
Structured Family Therapy (SFT) refers the mere undesignated rules that structure how a family interacts with one another (Walsh, 2010). The family unit is composed of systems or parts, and the parts must be unified to compile a whole unit to create homeostasis (Broderick, 1993). SFT therapy is warranted when dysfunction enters the family unit, and creates a deficiency of adaption by the individual which disrupts the family structure (Boyle, 2000). The family structure is composed of major components such as: subsystems, executive authority, boundaries, rules, roles, alliances, triangles, flexibility, and communication (Walsh,
Gladding, S. T. (2010). Family therapy: History, theory, and practice (5th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Copello, A., Velleman, R., & Templeton, L. (2005). Family interventions in the treatment of alcohol and drug problems. Drug & Alcohol Review, 24(4), 369-385. doi:10.1080/09595230500302356
Napier provides a crucial exploration of the therapy of a family struggling with battles for the structure of their family and battles to define and grow their relationships with one another. Napier and Whitaker seamlessly and purposely work with each family member, educating and
Nichols, M. P. (2010). Family therapy concepts and methods (9 ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Fred, Wilma, and Rose present an interesting perspective when looking at their family through a Structural Family Systems Theory. When trying to work with the family a social worker will utilize Functional Family Therapy in order to understand their structure and maybe ameliorate some of the family’s problems. Using Rose and her family as the clients it will be able explain what interventions we can use when we learn the constructs of the theory.
In our society families are the foundation of all human relationships. Therefore learning to maintain and develop healthy families are the goals of family therapist. Counselors can use the Structural Family Therapy approach in counseling hurting families. The pioneer of structural family therapy is Salvador Minuchin (Hammond & Nichols, 2014).
Structural Family Therapy offers a framework that provides order and meaning within the family connections (Nichols, 2013). Divorce for a family is considered a significant transition for all parties involved. When counseling a family going through divorce the structural family therapist’s job is to build an alliance with the family and obtain information about the structure. The structure of the family consists of the roles, interactions, organization, and hierarchy. Family therapy yields the belief that changing the organization of the family leads to change in the individual members. The structural family therapist often will try to become part of the family to gain a perspective of their issues as whole so not to place the focus on one individual. Joining is an empathetic approach in helping families explain and break down their individual stories without uncomfortable challenge or unnecessary confrontation (Nichols, 2013). It is important to note that family dysfunction that often leads to divorce is not attributed to one individual, but the entire family system. In structural family therapy, part of dealing with the issue of divorce in the family is to focus on the interactions between all the family members both positive and negative. Through these interactions the therapist can discover where the conflicts arise, which will in turn help the therapist understand how these negative interaction affect the family. Family therapy in these cases allows for repair of long-standing interactional patterns in which divorce is just one of a series of ongoing transactions that are disruptive to the child’s development (Kaplan, 1977, p.75). The structural family therapist often has the family play out these family interactions via enactments so that he can get a firsthand look at maladaptive patterns, roles, and
Duty, G. (2010, December 10). Family Systems Therapy. Lecture presented at Principles of Counseling Class Notes, Bethany.
My theoretical approach to family therapy is very integrative as I believe families cannot be described nor treated from a single-school approach. I view humans through a humanistic and existential lens but am more technically structural and solution-based. With this integrative approach, I believe I will be the most effective in helping families grow and reach their goals.
MDFT focuses on key areas of the adolescent’s life and provides an effective and cost-efficient treatment" (M 2017). MDFT is one of the practice models with the most evidence-based research, and it consists of applying itself to a wide range of adolescent problems such as delinquency, mental health issues, aggressive and antisocial behaviors, and child welfare. " In addition to its strong research outcomes, MDFT has high satisfaction ratings from teens and young adults, parents, therapists, and community collaborators" (M.2017). There are numerous essential objectives this practice theory incorporates in its treatment model as well as promotes change within four focus points. The practice theory of MDFT encourages parents to positively influence their children, guide the family to proper communication skills for problem solving, guides the adolescent to a healthy mindset, and encourages the family as a whole to interact with other systems.
It was first implemented from the United States and Canada, it focuses is mainly on serious and high-risk youths. It combines multiple therapy techniques such as cognitive-behavioural family therapies and behavioural parent training. It does this as it acknowledges that the young people will be embedded in a number of different social environments like the community, families and their peer groups and so this technique aims to combat all of these (Banks, 2013). Another form of therapy currently used is Function Family Therapy (FFT). It was designed several years ago and it is a short term intervention strategy and is designed to be delivered by therapists at home. This means it is less intensive than the MST strategy and costs a lot less and so is often the more popular option for the government. It targets youths between 11 and 18 years of age who have issues with delinquency, substance abuse or violence. It aims to enhance problem solving skills along with improving the family environment by working on the emotional connections and strengthening the family structure (Banks, 2013). The last popular therapy intervention strategy is Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC). This system differs from MST and FFT in the fact that the young person does not continue to live at
intervention. Families in Society. Vol. 88, pg. 42. Proquest Direct database. Retrieved February 25, 2015.