Topical Panel #5 Family and Marital Therapy Lynn Lyons, Stan Tatkin, Wendel Ray, Jeff Zeig

Wendel A. Ray, PhD Spyker Chair & Professor of Family System Theory, The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM); A Senior Research Fellow, Mental Research Institute (MRI), And Founder/Director Don D. Jackson Archive of Systemic Literature Dr. Ray can be contacted by Email: wendelray@gmail.com OR Phone/text: (318) 547-4539

Don D. Jackson, MD Communication Theory (August 2, 1956) CONTROL of who is to define a relationship Is the CENTRAL PROBLEM of Mental Pathology The crucial level at which relationships become pathological is the level of controlling who is in control of the definition of the situation.

For example, when “A” lets “B” be in control of the definition of the relationship, “A” is controlling who is in control. The pathology enters when their is an ongoing struggle at this level. Don Jackson Note: The problem is not what is the status of “A” in regard to “B”, but whether “A” or “B” is to define the status of “A” in regard to “B”. (1956)

Interactional /CyberneticTheory Primary focus is not on individuals in isolation and what is purported to be going on inside that motivates them, but rather on the interaction between: “We view symptoms, defenses, character structure, and personality as terms describing the individual’s typical interactions which occur in response to a particular interpersonal context, rather than as intrapsychic entities (Jackson 1967a).” Don Jackson

The shift in focus from an individual to a relationship/contextual view carries enormous implications for understanding behavior qua behavior: “One immediate revision offered by family study has been the order of data studied. One shifts from description of the nature of someone to description of the relations between someone and someone else. This latter approach has required the use of observable behavior as a source of data, rather than the unseen properties inside the individual.” Don Jackson

The data become sequences of repetitive, observable acts between family members, and with this shift to a new type of data comes a possible new way of conceptualizing the problem” (1967b/2009b, p. 178). Don Jackson “There are no good guys or bad guys or long-suffering wives and bastardly husbands. There are patterns of interaction which have to be so conceptualized that it is not possible to say the husband withdraws because his wife nags, nor the reverse (Jackson 1966/2009, p. 158).”

Interactional/Cybernetic Focus [ The couple or Family] “can be viewed as a mutual causative system, whose complementary communication reinforces the nature of their interaction. The therapist can look for rules that govern this system; therapy then consists of the therapist behaving in such a way that the rules must change.” (Jackson,1967b). Don Jackson

Jackson’s Interactional Approach “If a family is stuck in a rigid pattern, the therapist should do something to break up that pattern. There are all sorts of contingency possibilities - other behaviors, other opportunities, other people to whom family members can relate differently. Therefore they can change, 1967c.”193). Don Jackson

References Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J., Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of Human Communication: A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies & Paradoxes. NY: W.W. Norton & Co. Lederer, W. & Jackson, D. (1968). Mirages of Marriage. NY: W.W. Norton & Co. Jackson, D. & Weakland, J. (1961). Conjoint family therapy: some considerations on theory, technique, & results. Psychiatry, 24 (Suppl. #2), 30-45. Reprinted in the Journal of Systemic Therapies, 34 (4).

Jackson, D. (1965). The study of the family Jackson, D. (1965). The study of the family. Family Process, 4 (1), 1-20. Jackson, D. (1966). Family practice: A Comprehensive Medical Approach. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 7 (5), 338-244. Jackson, D. (1967b). The individual and the larger contexts. Family Process, 6 (2), 139-154. Jackson, D. (1967c). Differences between “normal” & “abnormal” Families. In N. Ackerman, F. Beatman & S. Sherman (Eds.), Expanding Theory and Practice in Family Therapy, pp. 99-102. NY: Family Service of America.

Wendel A. Ray, PhD Spyker Chair & Professor of Family System Theory, The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM); A Senior Research Fellow, Mental Research Institute (MRI), And Founder/Director Don D. Jackson Archive of Systemic Literature Dr. Ray can be contacted by Email: wendelray@gmail.com OR Phone/text: (318) 547-4539