1. Family Systems Therapy
Dr. Alfred Adler
Dr. Murray Bowen
Dr. Virginia Satir
Dr. Carl Whitaker
Dr. Salvador Minuchin
Dr. Jay Haley
Dr. Cloe’ Madanes (Haley)

2. Basic Assumption Serve a purpose for the family
Conflict
Be a function of the family’s inability to operate productively
The Cause
Be handed down across generations

3. Primary Goal of Therapy
To bring about change in the family system, which is assumed to produce change in the individual members of that family unit…

4. Adlerian Family Therapy
Basic Assumption: Both parents and children become stuck in repetitive negative interactions, which become motivators for the type of behavior displayed by the entire family…
EX: Arguing, Tobacco & Alcohol Use, Trouble with authority, etc…

5. Family Power & Authority
Decision
Maker F F
Decision
Maker P 2 P 1 2 3 1 2 3
TYPICAL
DYSFUNCTIONAL

6. Role of Therapist
The role of the therapist is that of a “Collaborator” who actually seeks to join the family unit…

7. Goals of Adlerian Family Therapy
Unlock mistaken goals and interactional patterns
Engage parents in a learning experience and joint assessment
Of the family
Place emphasis on the family’s motivational patterns
What makes them tick
To initiate a reorientation of the family
Teach them new ways

8. Multi-Generational Family Therapy: Murray Bowen
Bowen the original developer of mainstream family therapy
A family can be best understood when it is analyzed from at least a three-generational perspective…

9. Basic Concept of Differentiation of Self & Triangulation
The psychological separation of intellect and emotion and independence of self from others
Triangulation
Eliciting the support of a third party to lessen emotional tension between other family members
Central To
Therapy Model

10. Multi-Generational Goals
To change the individuals within the system
To end generation-to-generation transmission of problems by resolving emotional attachment
To lessen anxiety and relieve symptoms
To increase the individual member’s level of differentiation

11. Human Validation Process Model: Virginia Satir
The model is called: “Con-Joint Family Therapy”
Her approach emphasizes:
Communication
Emotional Experiencing
And, stresses the involvement of the therapist with a family

12. Validation Process Enhancement and validation of self-esteem
Family Rules
Congruence and openness in communication
Sculpting
Nurturing Triads
Family Mapping and Chronologies

13. Goals of Conjoint Therapy
Open Communication
Individuals are allowed to honestly report their perceptions
Enhancement of Self-Esteem
Family decisions are based on individual needs
Encouragement of Growth
Differences are acknowledged
Transforming extreme rules into useful and functional rules
Families have many spoken and unspoken rules

14. Experiential Family Therapy: Carl Whitaker
This approach stresses:
Choice
Freedom
Self-Determination
Growth
Self-Actualization

15. Therapist Emphasis
Unmask pretense, create new meaning, and liberate family members
Techniques are secondary
Creates family turmoil

16. Phases of Family Therapy
Engagement
Involvement
Disentanglement

17. Goals of Experiential Family Therapy
Individual autonomy
Achieve more intimacy
Encourage free expression
Promote spontaneity, creativity, the ability to play, and the willingness to be “Crazy”

18. Structural Family Therapy: Salvador Minuchin
An approach to understanding the nature of the family, the presenting problem, and the process of change…
An approach that stresses action over insight…

19. Family Structure Basic Family Family Sub-Systems Spousal sub-system
Mother/father sub-system
Sibling sub-system
Extended family sub-system

20. Strategic Family Therapy: Jay Haley
Focus is on solving problems in the present
Therapy is brief
Therapist designs strategies
Change results when family follows therapist directions

21. Goals of Therapy Resolve presenting problem Change Behavior
Shift family organization
Move family toward an appropriate stage of development