Strategic Family Therapy

While certainly useful and interesting, this chapter was primarily aimed at providing a high-level overview of the many variations on strategic therapy. The introductory paragraph offers insight into what Nichols considers critical for the reader to know. Namely, that families are responsible for the creation and maintenance of their issues, and that when direction is customized to each family, it can be a powerful tool for change (Nichols, 2013).
I would like to apply a brief example of a situation in my family, and how strategic family therapy might have helped. At age 4 or 5, my brother’s leg was badly burned in an accident (I am 4 years younger than my brother). He was hospitalized and separated from the family for a full 30 days—absolutely

The functional explanation is also useful, as it would suggest that my brother’s behavior gave him control over the behavior of my parents (Nichols, 2013). I believe it is likely that my brother’s behavior was motivated by a need for reassurance against further abandonment, while my parents were afraid to punish him out of a fear they would further traumatize

The authors consider the use of good questions to be at the heart of therapy (Patterson, Williams, Edwards, Chamow, & Grauf-Grounds, 2009). Being analytical in nature, I find such structures to aid in the organization of what would otherwise be a much more complex domain.
• I am particularly attracted to normalizing and reframing (pages 113 – 114), as these were techniques I experienced as useful in my own personal therapy. Clients can experience, as I did, great comfort in knowing that others have many of the same concerns. I can remember experience a great sense of relief whenever this occurred. Reframing is a broader concept, which also incorporates normalizing, allowing clients to consider alternative ways of looking at a problem (Patterson et al., 2009). Common to Cognitive Behavior Therapy, reframing will be in my toolkit.
• I appreciated that the authors included a discussion of crisis management. This is an area I plan to pursue in much more detail. The goals presented on page 118, while basic, provide a good framework for understanding how to address a client crisis (Patterson et al., 2009). I am currently taking Community Mental Health. There are extensive readings on trauma and crisis management. Suicide assessment and risk management was also covered last semester in