Virginia Satir And The Communication Model Of Family Therapy

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Recommended: The ‘Virginia Satir’s Family Therapy Model’

Virginia Satir was known as an author, psychotherapist and Director of the Mental Research Institiute (MRI) in Palo Alto, California. During her career, Virginia worked with many influential people in the field marriage and family therapy, such as: Jay Haley, Salvador Minuchin and Carl Whitaker. Satir focused on emotional experiencing, self-esteem and made significant contributions to the communication model of family therapy (Rasheed, Mikal, & James, 2011). According to Satir (1983), the family attempts to balance relationships through repetitive, predictable and circular communications patterns. Satir believed she could identify a positive correlation between communication and health or illness (Mislove, 1995). She theorized that dysfunction in families occur because people with low self-esteem marry people with low self-esteem. She also emphasized that low self-esteem is indicative inner dialogue (Satir, Stachowiak, Gerber & Gamori, 1991). She believed every human strives toward growth and betterment of self (Bermudez, 2008). Banmen (1986) identified Satir’s change model as a five-step process. The first step is Status Quo or homoeostasis. This is where the family is at before the process of change begins to occur, typically at the detriment of one or multiple member of family. During the second stage of change, a Foreign Element or concept is introduced. The family will initially reject the new piece of knowledge. After accepting the new information, the family moves into the third stage, Chaos. During chaos, individuals try to comprehend the knowledge being introduced and they choose accept the knowledge, or stay within the bounds of the status quo. In the fourth stage, the new information is integrated to make change. The... ... middle of paper ... ...o one another and to emphasis how a decision from one family member effects the group as a whole. The family should be in the chaos stage of change. The family should be accepting the new information coming in and trying to apply to their daily lives. During the final stage of therapy, the family will develop a new status quo changing the homeostasis and dynamic of the family. At this point, the family will be communicating openly and honestly with one another and each family member will be valued for the individuality (Rasheed et.al. 2011). In reviewing the techniques and theories of Virginia Satir, her personal style of therapy is not a good personal fit for me. Despite believing communication is the foundation in any relationship, I personal feel her model of family therapy puts too much emphasis on communication while neglecting the role of the extended family.

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