Family therapy, also referred to as
couple and family therapy,
family systems therapy, and
family counseling, is a branch of
psychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
that works with
familiesIn human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
and couples in
intimate relationshipAn intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
s to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the
systemSystem is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
s of interaction between family members. It emphasizes family relationships as an important factor in psychological health.
The different schools of family therapy have in common a belief that, regardless of the origin of the problem, and regardless of whether the clients consider it an "individual" or "family" issue, involving families in solutions is often beneficial. This involvement of families is commonly accomplished by their direct participation in the therapy session. The skills of the family therapist thus include the ability to influence conversations in a way that catalyses the strengths, wisdom, and support of the wider system.
In the field's early years, many clinicians defined the family in a narrow, traditional manner usually including parents and children. As the field has evolved, the concept of the family is more commonly defined in terms of strongly supportive, long-term roles and relationships between people who may or may not be related by blood or marriage.
Family therapy has been used effectively in the full range of human dilemmas; there is no category of relationship or psychological problem that has not been addressed with this approach. The conceptual frameworks developed by family therapists, especially those of
family systems theoristsSystems psychology is a branch of applied psychology that studies human behaviour and experience in complex systems. It is inspired by systems theory and systems thinking, and based on the theoretical work of Roger Barker, Gregory Bateson, Humberto Maturana and others. It is an approach in...
, have been applied to a wide range of human behaviour, including organisational dynamics and the study of
greatnessSince the publication of Francis Galton’s Hereditary Genius in 1869, and especially with the accelerated development of intelligence tests in the early 1900s, there has been a vast amount of social scientific research published relative to the question of ‘greatness’...
.
History and theoretical frameworks
Formal interventions with families to help individuals and families experiencing various kinds of problems have been a part of many cultures, probably throughout history. These interventions have sometimes involved formal procedures or
ritualA ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s, and often included the
extended familyThe term extended family has several distinct meanings. In modern Western cultures dominated by nuclear family constructs, it has come to be used generically to refer to grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, whether they live together within the same household or not. However, it may also refer...
as well as non-
kinKinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
members of the
communityThe term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
(see for example
Ho'oponoponoHooponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. Similar forgiveness practices were performed on islands throughout the South Pacific, including Samoa, Tahiti and New Zealand. Traditionally hooponopono is practiced by healing priests or kahuna lapaau among family...
). Following the emergence of specialization in various societies, these interventions were often conducted by particular members of a community – for example, a
chiefA tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
,
priestA priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
,
physicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, and so on - usually as an ancillary function.
Family therapy as a distinct
professionalA professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
practice within
Western cultureWestern culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
s can be argued to have had its origins in the
social workSocial Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
movements of the 19th century in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As a branch of
psychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, its roots can be traced somewhat later to the early 20th century with the emergence of the child guidance movement and marriage counseling. The formal development of family therapy dates to the
1940sFile:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
and early
1950sThe 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
with the founding in 1942 of the American Association of Marriage Counselors (the precursor of the AAMFT), and through the work of various independent clinicians and groups - in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(
John BowlbyEdward John Mostyn "John" Bowlby was a British psychologist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachment theory.- Family background :...
at the
Tavistock ClinicThe in London was founded in 1920 by Dr. Hugh Crichton-Miller, a psychiatrist who developed psychological treatments for shell-shocked soldiers during and after the First World War. The clinic's first patient was, however, a child. Its clinical services were always, therefore, for both children...
), the
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(
John Bell- Law and politics :* John Bell , English barrister* John Bell , professor of law and Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge* John Bell , Member of Parliament from Thirsk...
,
Nathan AckermanNathan W. Ackerman was an American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and one of the most important pioneers of the field of family therapy....
, Christian Midelfort,
Theodore LidzTheodore Lidz was an American psychiatrist best known for his articles and books on the causes of schizophrenia and on psychotherapy with schizophrenic patients...
,
Lyman WynneLyman C. Wynne was an American psychiatrist and psychologist with a special interest in schizophrenia. His early researches helped lay the foundation for family-based therapies , influencing others such as R. D. Laing. He made a number of discoveries about the interaction of genetics and the...
,
Murray BowenMurray Bowen, M.D., was an American psychiatrist and a professor in Psychiatry at the Georgetown University. Bowen was among the pioneers of family therapy and founders of systemic therapy...
, Carl Whitaker,
Virginia SatirVirginia Satir was an American author and psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy and her work with Systemic Constellations...
), and
HungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(D.L.P. Liebermann) - who began seeing family members together for observation or therapy sessions. There was initially a strong influence from
psychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
(most of the early founders of the field had psychoanalytic backgrounds) and
social psychiatrySocial psychiatry is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the "interpersonal" and cultural context of mental disorder and mental wellbeing. It involves a sometimes disparate set of theories and approaches, with work stretching from epidemiological survey research on the one hand, to an indistinct...
, and later from
learning theoryBehaviorism , also called the learning perspective , is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things that organisms do—including acting, thinking, and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors, and that psychological disorders are best treated by altering behavior...
and behavior therapy - and significantly, these clinicians began to articulate various theories about the nature and functioning of the family as an entity that was more than a mere aggregation of individuals.
The movement received an important boost in the mid-1950s through the work of
anthropologistAnthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
Gregory BatesonGregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
and colleagues –
Jay HaleyJay Douglas Haley was one of the founding figures of brief and family therapy in general and of the strategic model of psychotherapy, and he was one of the more accomplished teachers, clinical supervisors, and authors in these disciplines.-Life and works:Conceived in a log cabin on his family's...
,
Donald D. JacksonDon D. Jackson was an American psychiatrist best known for his pioneering work in family therapy.From 1947 to 1951 he studied under Harry Stack Sullivan....
,
John WeaklandJohn H. Weakland was one of the founders of brief and family psychotherapy. At the time of his death, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California, Co-Director of the famous Brief Therapy Center at MRI, and a Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus in...
,
William FryWilliam Fry may refer to:*William Henry Fry , American composer*William Fry , Australian politician of Higinbotham Province, Victoria...
, and later,
Virginia SatirVirginia Satir was an American author and psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy and her work with Systemic Constellations...
,
Paul WatzlawickPaul Watzlawick was an Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher. A theoretician in communication theory and radical constructivism, he has commented in the fields of family therapy and general psychotherapy...
and others – at Palo Alto in the
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, who introduced ideas from
cyberneticsCybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
and general systems theory into
social psychologySocial psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
and
psychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, focusing in particular on the role of
communicationCommunication theory is a field of information and mathematics that studies the technical process of information and the human process of human communication.- History :- Origins :...
(see
Bateson ProjectThe Bateson Project was the name given to a ground-breaking collaboration organized by Gregory Bateson beginning in 1953 which was responsible for some of the most important papers and innovations in communication and psychotherapy in the 1950s and early 1960s. Its members were Gregory Bateson,...
). This approach eschewed the traditional focus on individual psychology and historical factors – that involve so-called linear causation and content – and emphasized instead
feedbackFeedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
and homeostatic mechanisms and “rules” in here-and-now interactions – so-called circular causation and process – that were thought to maintain or exacerbate problems, whatever the original cause(s). (See also
systems psychologySystems psychology is a branch of applied psychology that studies human behaviour and experience in complex systems. It is inspired by systems theory and systems thinking, and based on the theoretical work of Roger Barker, Gregory Bateson, Humberto Maturana and others. It is an approach in...
and
systemic therapySystemic therapy is a form of psychotherapy which seeks to address people not on individual level, as had been the focus of earlier forms of therapy, but as people in relationship, dealing with the interactions of groups and their interactional patterns and dynamics.- History :Systemic therapy has...
.) This group was also influenced significantly by the work of
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
psychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
,
hypnotherapistHypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....
, and
brief therapistBrief psychotherapy or Brief therapy is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches to psychotherapy. It differs from other schools of therapy in that it emphasises a focus on a specific problem and direct intervention...
,
Milton H. EricksonMilton Hyland Erickson, was an American psychiatrist specializing in medical hypnosis and family therapy...
- especially his innovative use of strategies for change, such as paradoxical directives (see also
Reverse psychologyReverse psychology is a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually is desired: the opposite of what is suggested...
). The members of the
Bateson ProjectThe Bateson Project was the name given to a ground-breaking collaboration organized by Gregory Bateson beginning in 1953 which was responsible for some of the most important papers and innovations in communication and psychotherapy in the 1950s and early 1960s. Its members were Gregory Bateson,...
(like the founders of a number of other schools of family therapy, including Carl Whitaker,
Murray BowenMurray Bowen, M.D., was an American psychiatrist and a professor in Psychiatry at the Georgetown University. Bowen was among the pioneers of family therapy and founders of systemic therapy...
, and
Ivan Böszörményi-NagyIvan Böszörményi-Nagy was a Hungarian-American psychiatrist and one of the founders of the field of family therapy. He emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1950....
) had a particular interest in the possible psychosocial causes and treatment of
schizophreniaSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, especially in terms of the putative "meaning" and "function" of
signA medical sign is an objective indication of some medical fact or characteristic that may be detected by a physician during a physical examination of a patient....
s and
symptomA symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...
s within the family system. The research of
psychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
s and psychoanalysts
Lyman WynneLyman C. Wynne was an American psychiatrist and psychologist with a special interest in schizophrenia. His early researches helped lay the foundation for family-based therapies , influencing others such as R. D. Laing. He made a number of discoveries about the interaction of genetics and the...
and
Theodore LidzTheodore Lidz was an American psychiatrist best known for his articles and books on the causes of schizophrenia and on psychotherapy with schizophrenic patients...
on communication deviance and roles (e.g., pseudo-mutuality, pseudo-hostility, schism and skew) in families of
schizophrenicsSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
also became influential with systems-communications-oriented theorists and therapists. A related theme, applying to
dysfunctionA dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
and
psychopathologyPsychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...
more generally, was that of the "
identified patientIdentified patient, or "IP", is a term used in a clinical setting to describe the person in a dysfunctional family who has been subconsciously selected to act out the family's inner conflicts in order to keep attention focused on an element that lies outside of the core conflict - who is 'often the...
" or "presenting problem" as a manifestation of or surrogate for the family's, or even society's, problems. (See also
double bindA double bind is an emotionally distressing dilemma in communication in which an individual receives two or more conflicting messages, in which one message negates the other. This creates a situation in which a successful response to one message results in a failed response to the other , so that...
;
family nexusThe term family nexus was used by the psychiatrist R D Laing to describe a common viewpoint held and reinforced by the majority of family members regarding events in the family and relationships with the world...
.)
By the mid-
1960sThe 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
a number of distinct schools of family therapy had emerged. From those groups that were most strongly influenced by
cyberneticsCybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
and
systems theorySystems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
, there came
MRI Brief TherapyThe Palo Alto Mental Research Institute is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy. Founded by Don D. Jackson and colleagues in 1959, MRI has been one of the leading sources of ideas in the area of interactional/systemic studies, psychotherapy, and family...
, and slightly later, strategic therapy,
Salvador MinuchinSalvador Minuchin is a family therapist born and raised in San Salvador, Entre Ríos, Argentina. He developed Structural Family Therapy, which addresses problems within a family by charting the relationships between family members, or between subsets of family. These charts represent power dynamics...
's
Structural Family TherapyStructural Family Therapy is a method of psychotherapy developed by Salvador Minuchin which addresses problems in functioning within a family...
and the
Milan systemsMara Selvini Palazzoli was an Italian psychiatrist and founder in 1971, with Gianfranco Cecchin, Luigi Boscolo and Giuliana Prata, of the systemic and constructivist approach to family therapy which became known as the Milan systems approach. Worked with families of schizophrenic and anorexic...
model. Partly in reaction to some aspects of these systemic models, came the experiential approaches of
Virginia SatirVirginia Satir was an American author and psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy and her work with Systemic Constellations...
and Carl Whitaker, which downplayed theoretical constructs, and emphasized
subjectiveSubjectivity refers to the subject and his or her perspective, feelings, beliefs, and desires. In philosophy, the term is usually contrasted with objectivity.-Qualia:...
experienceExperience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
and unexpressed
feelingFeeling is the nominalization of the verb to feel. The word was first used in the English language to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe experiences, other than the physical sensation of touch, such as "a feeling of...
s (including the
subconsciousThe term subconscious is used in many different contexts and has no single or precise definition. This greatly limits its significance as a definition-bearing concept, and in consequence the word tends to be avoided in academic and scientific settings....
), authentic communication, spontaneity, creativity, total therapist engagement, and often included the
extended familyThe term extended family has several distinct meanings. In modern Western cultures dominated by nuclear family constructs, it has come to be used generically to refer to grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, whether they live together within the same household or not. However, it may also refer...
. Concurrently and somewhat independently, there emerged the various intergenerational therapies of
Murray BowenMurray Bowen, M.D., was an American psychiatrist and a professor in Psychiatry at the Georgetown University. Bowen was among the pioneers of family therapy and founders of systemic therapy...
,
Ivan Böszörményi-NagyIvan Böszörményi-Nagy was a Hungarian-American psychiatrist and one of the founders of the field of family therapy. He emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1950....
,
James FramoJames Framo was a US psychologist and pioneer family therapist. He developed an object relations approach to intergenerational and family-of-origin therapy. He collaborated with other pioneers in the field and authored or co-authored several early and significant texts in the field of family...
, and Norman Paul, which present different theories about the intergenerational transmission of health and
dysfunctionA dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
, but which all deal usually with at least three generations of a family (in person or conceptually), either directly in therapy sessions, or via "homework", "journeys home", etc. Psychodynamic family therapy - which, more than any other school of family therapy, deals directly with individual psychology and the
unconsciousThe unconscious mind is a term coined by the 18th century German romantic philosopher Friedrich Schelling and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge...
in the context of current relationships - continued to develop through a number of groups that were influenced by the ideas and methods of
Nathan AckermanNathan W. Ackerman was an American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and one of the most important pioneers of the field of family therapy....
, and also by the British School of
Object RelationsObject relations theory is a psychodynamic theory within psychoanalytic psychology. The theory describes the process of developing a mind as one grows in relation to others in the environment....
and
John BowlbyEdward John Mostyn "John" Bowlby was a British psychologist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachment theory.- Family background :...
’s work on
attachmentAttachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...
. Multiple-family
group therapyGroup psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group...
, a precursor of
psychoeducationPsychoeducation refers to the education offered to people who live with a psychological disturbance. Frequently psychoeducational training involves patients with schizophrenia, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, psychotic illnesses, eating disorders, and personality disorders, as well as...
al family intervention, emerged, in part, as a pragmatic alternative form of intervention - especially as an adjunct to the treatment of serious mental disorders with a significant
biologicalBiological psychiatry, or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system. It is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws on sciences such as neuroscience, psychopharmacology, biochemistry, genetics and...
basis, such as
schizophreniaSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
- and represented something of a conceptual challenge to some of the "systemic" (and thus potentially "family-blaming")
paradigmThe word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
s of pathogenesis that were implicit in many of the dominant models of family therapy. The late-
1960sThe 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
and early-
1970sFile:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
saw the development of network therapy (which bears some resemblance to traditional practices such as
Ho'oponoponoHooponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. Similar forgiveness practices were performed on islands throughout the South Pacific, including Samoa, Tahiti and New Zealand. Traditionally hooponopono is practiced by healing priests or kahuna lapaau among family...
) by
Ross SpeckRoss V. Speck, MD, is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and family therapist. He has a strong interest in sociology and anthropology and has done research in family therapy of schizophrenia, drugs, depression, and adolescents. He was one of the "first generation" of family therapists and a founder of...
and Carolyn Attneave, and the emergence of behavioral marital therapy (renamed behavioral couples therapy in the
1990sFile:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
; see also
relationship counselingRelationship counseling is the process of counseling the parties of a relationship in an effort to recognize and to better manage or reconcile troublesome differences and repeating patterns of distress...
) and behavioral family therapy as models in their own right.
By the late-
1970sFile:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
the weight of clinical experience - especially in relation to the treatment of serious mental disorders - had led to some revision of a number of the original models and a moderation of some of the earlier stridency and theoretical purism. There were the beginnings of a general softening of the strict demarcations between schools, with moves toward
rapprochementIn international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word rapprocher , is a re-establishment of cordial relations, as between two countries...
, integration, and
eclecticismEclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
– although there was, nevertheless, some hardening of positions within some schools. These trends were reflected in and influenced by lively debates within the field and critiques from various sources, including
feminismFeminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and post-modernism, that reflected in part the cultural and political tenor of the times, and which foreshadowed the emergence (in the
1980sFile:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
and
1990sFile:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
) of the various "post-systems"
constructivistConstructivist epistemology is an epistemological perspective in philosophy about the nature of scientific knowledge. Constructivists maintain that scientific knowledge is constructed by scientists and not discovered from the world. Constructivists claim that the concepts of science are mental...
and
social constructionistSocial constructionism and social constructivism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. A social construction is a concept or practice that is the construct of a particular group...
approaches. While there was still debate within the field about whether, or to what degree, the systemic-constructivist and medical-biological paradigms were necessarily antithetical to each other (see also
Anti-psychiatryAnti-psychiatry is a configuration of groups and theoretical constructs that emerged in the 1960s, and questioned the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry, such as its claim that it achieves universal, scientific objectivity. Its igniting influences were Michel Foucault, R.D. Laing,...
;
Biopsychosocial modelThe biopsychosocial model is a general model or approach that posits that biological, psychological , and social factors, all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease or illness...
), there was a growing willingness and tendency on the part of family therapists to work in multi-modal clinical partnerships with other members of the helping and medical professions.
From the mid-
1980sFile:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
to the present the field has been marked by a diversity of approaches that partly reflect the original schools, but which also draw on other theories and methods from individual
psychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
and elsewhere – these approaches and sources include:
brief therapyBrief psychotherapy or Brief therapy is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches to psychotherapy. It differs from other schools of therapy in that it emphasises a focus on a specific problem and direct intervention...
,
structural therapySalvador Minuchin is a family therapist born and raised in San Salvador, Entre Ríos, Argentina. He developed Structural Family Therapy, which addresses problems within a family by charting the relationships between family members, or between subsets of family. These charts represent power dynamics...
,
constructivistConstructivist epistemology is an epistemological perspective in philosophy about the nature of scientific knowledge. Constructivists maintain that scientific knowledge is constructed by scientists and not discovered from the world. Constructivists claim that the concepts of science are mental...
approaches (e.g.,
Milan systemsMara Selvini Palazzoli was an Italian psychiatrist and founder in 1971, with Gianfranco Cecchin, Luigi Boscolo and Giuliana Prata, of the systemic and constructivist approach to family therapy which became known as the Milan systems approach. Worked with families of schizophrenic and anorexic...
, post-Milan/collaborative/conversational, reflective),
solution-focused therapySolution focused brief therapy , often referred to as simply 'solution focused therapy' or 'brief therapy', is a type of talking therapy that is based upon social constructionist philosophy. It focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem that made them seek help...
,
narrative therapyNarrative Therapy is a form of psychotherapy using narrative. It was initially developed during the 1970s and 1980s, largely by Australian Michael White and his friend and colleague, David Epston, of New Zealand....
, a range of cognitive and behavioral approaches, psychodynamic and
object relationsObject relations theory is a psychodynamic theory within psychoanalytic psychology. The theory describes the process of developing a mind as one grows in relation to others in the environment....
approaches,
attachmentAttachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...
and
Emotionally Focused TherapyEmotionally focused therapy is a short term psychotherapy approach to working with couples and more recently with families. It is substantially based on the principles of emotion theory and attachment theory....
, intergenerational approaches, network therapy, and
multisystemic therapyMultisystemic Therapy is an intensive, family-focused and community-based treatment program for chronic and violent youth...
(MST). Multicultural,
interculturalIntercultural competence is the ability of successful communication with people of other cultures.A person who is interculturally competent captures and understands, in interaction with people from foreign cultures, their specific concepts in perception, thinking, feeling and acting...
, and
integrativeIntegrative psychotherapy may involve the fusion of different schools of psychotherapy. The word 'integrative' in Integrative psychotherapy may also refer to integrating the personality and making it cohesive, and to the bringing together of the "affective, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological...
approaches are being developed. Many practitioners claim to be "
eclecticEclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
," using techniques from several areas, depending upon their own inclinations and/or the needs of the client(s), and there is a growing movement toward a single “generic” family therapy that seeks to incorporate the best of the accumulated knowledge in the field and which can be adapted to many different contexts; however, there are still a significant number of therapists who adhere more or less strictly to a particular, or limited number of, approach(es).
Ideas and methods from family therapy have been influential in
psychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
generally: a survey of over 2,500
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
therapists in 2006 revealed that of the ten most influential therapists of the previous quarter-century, three were prominent family therapists, and the marital and family systems model was the second most utilized model after cognitive behavioral therapy. And recently family therapy ideas and methods have had a great influence in the addiction field with their influence on using family oriented interventions to help an addict accept help.
As we move through the 21st century, the internet is fostering the growth of online programs that make courses and programs in family therapy more widely accessible. Using mass media techniques to increase public understanding of issues in family therapy has added a new frontier for amplification in the future.
Techniques
Family therapy uses a range of counseling and other techniques including:
- communication theory
Communication theory is a field of information and mathematics that studies the technical process of information and the human process of human communication.- History :- Origins :...
- media and communications psychology
- psychoeducation
Psychoeducation refers to the education offered to people who live with a psychological disturbance. Frequently psychoeducational training involves patients with schizophrenia, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, psychotic illnesses, eating disorders, and personality disorders, as well as...
- psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
- relationship education
Relationship education presents and promotes the principles and practices of premarital education, relationship resources, relationship restoration, relationship maintenance, and research-based marriage preparation.-History:...
- systemic coaching
- systems theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
- reality therapy
Reality therapy is an approach to psychotherapy and counseling. It was developed by the psychiatrist Dr. William Glasser in 1965. Reality therapy is considered a cognitive-behavioural approach to treatment ....
The number of sessions depends on the situation, but the average is 5-20 sessions. A family therapist usually meets several members of the family at the same time. This has the advantage of making differences between the ways family members perceive mutual relations as well as interaction patterns in the session apparent both for the therapist and the family. These patterns frequently mirror habitual interaction patterns at home, even though the therapist is now incorporated into the family system. Therapy interventions usually focus on relationship patterns rather than on analyzing impulses of the
unconscious mindThe unconscious mind is a term coined by the 18th century German romantic philosopher Friedrich Schelling and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge...
or
early childhoodFor the video game rating with a similar age group see ESRBEarly childhood is a stage in human development. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood.-Education:Infants and toddlers experience...
traumaPsychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
of individuals as a Freudian therapist would do - although some schools of family therapy, for example psychodynamic and intergenerational, do consider such individual and historical factors (thus embracing both linear and circular causation) and they may use instruments such as the
genogramA genogram is a pictorial display of a person's family relationships and medical history. It goes beyond a traditional family tree by allowing the user to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors that punctuate relationships...
to help to elucidate the patterns of relationship across generations.
The distinctive feature of family therapy is its perspective and analytical framework rather than the number of people present at a therapy session. Specifically, family therapists are relational therapists: They are generally more interested in what goes on between individuals rather than within one or more individuals, although some family therapists—in particular those who identify as psychodynamic, object relations, intergenerational,
EFT-Science:* Eft, the terrestrial juvenile phase of a newt* Effective field theory, an approximate theory to describe physical phenomena* Ewing family of tumors, a group of cancers-Technology:* Electrical Fast Transient, see Transient...
, or experiential family therapists—tend to be as interested in individuals as in the systems those individuals and their relationships constitute. Depending on the conflicts at issue and the progress of therapy to date, a therapist may focus on analyzing specific previous instances of conflict, as by reviewing a past incident and suggesting alternative ways family members might have responded to one another during it, or instead proceed directly to addressing the sources of conflict at a more abstract level, as by pointing out patterns of interaction that the family might have not noticed.
Family therapists tend to be more interested in the maintenance and/or solving of problems rather than in trying to identify a single cause. Some families may perceive cause-effect analyses as attempts to allocate blame to one or more individuals, with the effect that for many families a focus on causation is of little or no clinical utility.
Publications
Family therapy journals include:
Journal of Marital and Family Therapy,
Family Process,
of Family Therapy, Journal of Systemic Therapies, The Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, The Psychotherapy Networker, The Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, The Australian Journal of Family Therapy, The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, Journal for the Study of Human Interaction and Family Therapy,
Licensing and degrees
Family therapy practitioners come from a range of professional backgrounds, and some are specifically qualified or
licensed/registeredLicensure refers to the granting of a license, which gives a "permission to practice." Such licenses are usually issued in order to regulate some activity that is deemed to be dangerous or a threat to the person or the public or which involves a high level of specialized skill...
in family therapy (licensing is not required in some jurisdictions and requirements vary from place to place). In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, family therapists are usually
psychologistPsychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
s, nurses, psychotherapists,
social workSocial Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
ers, or
counselorsLicensed professional counselor is a licensure for mental health professionals. The exact title varies by state, but the other most frequently used title is licensed mental health counselor . Several U.S. states, including Illinois, Maine, and Tennessee, have implemented a two-tier system whereby...
who have done further training in family therapy, either a
diplomaA diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...
or an M.Sc.. However, in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
there is a specific degree and license as a
MarriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
and Family therapist.
Prior to 1999 in
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, counselors who specialized in this area were called Marriage, Family and Child Counselors. Today, they are known as Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT), and work variously in private practice, in clinical settings such as hospitals, institutions, or counseling organizations.
A master's degree is required to work as an MFT in some American states. Most commonly, MFTs will first earn a M.S. or M.A. degree in marriage and family therapy,
psychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, family studies, or
social workSocial Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
. After graduation, prospective MFTs work as interns under the supervision of a licensed professional and are referred to as an MFTi.
Marriage and family therapists in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
often seek degrees from accredited Masters or Doctoral programs recognized by the
Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education(COAMFTE), a division of the
American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. For accredited programs, click
here.
Requirements vary, but in most states about 3000 hours of supervised work as an intern are needed to sit for a licensing exam. MFTs must be licensed by the state to practice. Only after completing their education and internship and passing the state licensing exam can a person call themselves a Marital and Family Therapist and work unsupervised.
License restrictions can vary considerably from state to state. Contact information about licensing boards in the United States are provided by the
Association of Marital and Family Regulatory Boards.
There have been concerns raised within the profession about the fact that specialist training in couples therapy – as distinct from family therapy in general - is not required to gain a license as an MFT or membership of the main professional body, the AAMFT.
Values and ethics in family therapy
Since issues of interpersonal conflict, power, control, values, and ethics are often more pronounced in relationship therapy than in individual therapy, there has been debate within the profession about the different values that are implicit in the various theoretical models of therapy and the role of the therapist’s own values in the therapeutic process, and how prospective clients should best go about finding a therapist whose values and objectives are most consistent with their own. Specific issues that have emerged have included an increasing questioning of the longstanding notion of therapeutic neutrality, a concern with questions of justice and self-determination, connectedness and independence, "functioning" versus "authenticity", and questions about the degree of the therapist’s "pro-marriage/family" versus "pro-individual" commitment.
Founders and key influences
Some key developers of family therapy are:
Summary of Family Therapy Theories & Techniques
(references:)
| Theoretical Model | Theorists | Summary | Techniques |
| Adlerian Family Therapy |
Alfred Adler Alfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. In collaboration with Sigmund Freud and a small group of Freud's colleagues, Adler was among the co-founders of the psychoanalytic movement as a core member of the Vienna...
|
Also known as "Individual Psychology Individual psychology is a term used specifically to refer to the psychological method or science founded by the Viennese psychiatrist Alfred Adler...
". Sees the person as a whole. Ideas include compensation for feelings of inferiority leading to striving for significance toward a fictional final goal with a private logic. Birth orderBirth order is defined as a person's rank by age among his or her siblings. Birth order is often believed to have a profound and lasting effect on psychological development...
and mistaken goals are explored to examine mistaken motivations of children and adults in the family constellation. |
PsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
, Typical Day, Reorienting, Re-educating |
| Attachment Theory Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...
|
John Bowlby Edward John Mostyn "John" Bowlby was a British psychologist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachment theory.- Family background :...
, Mary AinsworthMary Dinsmore Salter Ainsworth was a Canadian developmental psychologist known for her work in early emotional attachment with "The Strange Situation" as well as her work in the development of Attachment Theory.-Life:...
|
Individuals are shaped by their experiences with caregivers in the first three years of life. Used as a foundation for Object Relations Theory Object relations theory is a psychodynamic theory within psychoanalytic psychology. The theory describes the process of developing a mind as one grows in relation to others in the environment....
. The Strange Situation experiment with infants involves a systematic process of leaving a child alone in a room in order to assess the quality of their parental bond. |
PsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
, Play TherapyPlay therapy is generally employed with children aged 3 through 11 and provides a way for them to express their experiences and feelings through a natural, self-guided, self-healing process...
|
| Bowenian Family Systems |
Murray Bowen Murray Bowen, M.D., was an American psychiatrist and a professor in Psychiatry at the Georgetown University. Bowen was among the pioneers of family therapy and founders of systemic therapy...
, Betty Carter, Philip Guerin, Michael Kerr, Thomas Fogarty, Monica McGoldrick, Edwin FriedmanEdwin H. Friedman was an ordained Jewish Rabbi and a family therapist. He was born in New York City and worked for more than 35 years in the Washington DC area where he founded the Bethesda Jewish Congregation....
, Daniel Papero |
Also known as “Intergenerational Family Therapy” (although there are also other schools of intergenerational family therapy). Family members are driven to achieve a balance of internal and external differentiation, causing anxiety, triangulation, and emotional cutoff. Families are affected by nuclear family emotional processes, sibling positions and multigenerational transmission patterns resulting in an undifferentiated family ego mass. |
Detriangulation, Nonanxious Presence, Genograms, Coaching |
| Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy |
John Gottman John Mordecai Gottman is a Ph.D. psychologist known for his work on marital stability and relationship analysis through scientific direct observations published in peer-reviewed literature...
, Albert EllisAlbert Ellis was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy . He held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and American Board of Professional Psychology . He also founded and was the president emeritus of the New York...
, Albert BanduraAlbert Bandura is a psychologist and the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University...
|
Problems are the result of operant conditioning Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...
that reinforces negative behaviors within the family’s interpersonal social exchanges that extinguish desired behavior and promote incentives toward unwanted behaviors. This can lead to irrational beliefs and a faulty family schema. |
Therapeutic Contracts, Modeling, Systematic Desensitization Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioral therapy used in the field of psychology to help effectively overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders. More specifically, it is a type of Pavlovian therapy / classical conditioning therapy developed by a South African psychiatrist, Joseph Wolpe...
, Shaping, Charting, Examining Irrational Beliefs |
| Collaborative Language Systems |
Harry Goolishian, Harlene Anderson Harlene Anderson is an American psychologist. Along with Dr. Harold A. Goolishian , she developed a postmodern collaborative approach to therapy. She is recognized as a leader in the field of marriage and family therapy for her contributions to theory development, as well as innovative practices...
, Tom Andersen, Lynn Hoffman, Peggy Penn |
Individuals form meanings about their experiences within the context of social relationship on a personal and organizational level. Collaborative therapists help families reorganize and dis-solve their perceived problems through a transparent dialogue about inner thoughts with a “not-knowing” stance intended to illicit new meaning through conversation. Collaborative therapy is an approach that avoids a particular theoretical perspective in favor of a client-centered philosophical process. |
Dialogical Conversation, Not Knowing, Curiosity, Being Public, Reflecting Teams |
Communications ApproachesVirginia Satir was an American author and psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy and her work with Systemic Constellations...
|
Virginia SatirVirginia Satir was an American author and psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy and her work with Systemic Constellations...
, John Banmen, Jane Gerber, Maria Gomori |
All people are born into a primary survival triad between themselves and their parents where they adopt survival stances to protect their self-worth from threats communicated by words and behaviors of their family members. Experiential therapists are interested in altering the overt and covert messages between family members that affect their body, mind and feelings in order to promote congruence and to validate each person’s inherent self-worth. |
Equality, Modeling Communication, Family Life Chronology, Family Sculpting, Metaphors, Family Reconstruction |
| Contextual Therapy |
Ivan Böszörményi-Nagy Ivan Böszörményi-Nagy was a Hungarian-American psychiatrist and one of the founders of the field of family therapy. He emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1950....
|
Families are built upon an unconscious network of implicit loyalties between parents and children that can be damaged when these “relational ethics” of fairness, trust, entitlement, mutuality and merit are breached. |
Rebalancing, Family Negotiations, Validation, Filial Filial may refer to:* Filial church, a Roman Catholic church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church* Filial piety, one of the virtues in Confucian thought...
Debt Repayment |
| Emotion-Focused Therapy |
Sue Johnson Sue Johnson is one of the creators of Emotionally Focused Therapy or EFT. She is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Emotionally Focused Therapy. She is also the director of the Ottawa Couple and Family Institute.-Works:*Johnson, S.M. . ...
, Les GreenbergLes Greenberg is a Canadian-based psychologist and one of the originators and primary developers of Emotion-Focused Therapy for individuals and couples...
|
Couples and families can develop rigid patterns of interaction based on powerful emotional experiences that hinder emotional engagement and trust. Treatment aims to enhance empathic capabilities of family members by exploring deep-seated habits and modifying emotional cues. |
Reflecting, Validation, Heightening, Reframing, Restructuring |
| Experiential Family Therapy |
Carl Whitaker, David Kieth, Laura Roberto, Walter Kempler Like many of the early family therapy theorists, psychoanalytic training was also the starting point for Walter Kempler; he later became interested in existential issues and family therapy. He worked for a time with Fritz Perls, and there is much overlap in their orientations. Kempler calls his...
, John Warkentin, Thomas Malone, August Napier |
Stemming from Gestalt Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating...
foundations, change and growth occurs through an existential encounter with a therapist who is intentionally “real” and authentic with clients without pretense, often in a playful and sometimes absurd way as a means to foster flexibility in the family and promote individuation. |
Battling, Constructive Anxiety, Redefining Symptoms, Affective Confrontation, Co-Therapy, Humor |
| Feminist Family Therapy Feminist therapy is a set of related therapies arising from what proponents see as a disparity between the origin of most psychological theories and the majority of people seeking counseling being female. It focuses on societal, cultural, and political causes and solutions to issues faced in the...
|
Sandra Bern Sandra Ruth Lipsitz Bem to Peter and Lillian Lipsitz. She grew up in a "working class" family, with one younger sister named Beverly. She is married to Daryl Bem, also a psychology professor....
, |
Complications from social and political disparity between genders are identified as underlying causes of conflict within a family system. Therapists are encouraged to be aware of these influences in order to avoid perpetuating hidden oppression, biases and cultural stereotypes and to model an egalitarian perspective of healthy family relationships. |
Demystifying, Modeling, Equality, Personal Accountability |
| Milan Systemic Family Therapy |
Luigi Boscolo, Gianfranco Cecchin, Mara Selvini Palazzoli Mara Selvini Palazzoli was an Italian psychiatrist and founder in 1971, with Gianfranco Cecchin, Luigi Boscolo and Giuliana Prata, of the systemic and constructivist approach to family therapy which became known as the Milan systems approach. Worked with families of schizophrenic and anorexic...
, Giuliana Prata |
A practical attempt by the “Milan Group” to establish therapeutic techniques based on Gregory BatesonGregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
’s cyberneticsCybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
that disrupts unseen systemic patterns of control and games between family members by challenging erroneous family beliefs and reworking the family’s linguistic assumptions. |
Hypothesizing, Circular Questioning, Neutrality, Counterparadox |
| Medical Family Therapy |
Goerge Engel, Susan McDaniel, Jeri Hepworth & William Doherty |
Families facing the challenges of major illness experience a unique set of biological, psychological and social difficulties that require a specialized skills of a therapist who understands the complexities of the medical system, as well as the full spectrum of mental health theories and techniques. |
Grief Work, Family Meetings, Consultations, Collaborative Approaches |
| MRI Brief Therapy The Palo Alto Mental Research Institute is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy. Founded by Don D. Jackson and colleagues in 1959, MRI has been one of the leading sources of ideas in the area of interactional/systemic studies, psychotherapy, and family...
|
Gregory BatesonGregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
, Milton Erickson, Heinz von FoersterHeinz von Foerster was an Austrian American scientist combining physics and philosophy. Together with Warren McCulloch, Norbert Wiener, John von Neumann, Lawrence J. Fogel, and others, Heinz von Foerster was an architect of cybernetics.-Biography:Von Foerster was born in 1911 in Vienna, Austria,...
|
Established by the Mental Research Institute The Palo Alto Mental Research Institute is one of the founding institutions of brief and family therapy. Founded by Don D. Jackson and colleagues in 1959, MRI has been one of the leading sources of ideas in the area of interactional/systemic studies, psychotherapy, and family...
(MRI) as a synthesis of ideas from multiple theorists in order to interrupt misguided attempts by families to create first and second order change by persisting with “more of the same,” mixed signals from unclear metacommunication and paradoxical double-bind messages. |
Reframing, Prescribing the Symptom, Relabeling, Restraining (Going Slow), Bellac Ploy |
| Narrative Therapy Narrative Therapy is a form of psychotherapy using narrative. It was initially developed during the 1970s and 1980s, largely by Australian Michael White and his friend and colleague, David Epston, of New Zealand....
|
Michael White - Academics :*Michael JD White , British zoologist*Michael White , inventor of narrative therapy*L. Michael White, American theologian*Michael White , English Communications Theorist- Journalism and literature :...
, David EpstonDavid Epston is a New Zealand therapist, co-director of the Family Therapy Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, and Visiting Professor at the John F. Kennedy University...
|
People use stories to make sense of their experience and to establish their identity as a social and political constructs based on local knowledge. Narrative therapists avoid marginalizing their clients by positioning themselves as a co-editor of their reality with the idea that “the person is not the problem, but the problem is the problem.” |
Deconstruction Deconstruction is a term introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply Martin Heidegger's concept of Destruktion or Abbau, to textual reading...
, Externalizing Problems, Mapping, Asking Permission |
| Object Relations Therapy Object relations theory is a psychodynamic theory within psychoanalytic psychology. The theory describes the process of developing a mind as one grows in relation to others in the environment....
|
Hazan & Shaver, David Scharff & Jill Scharff, James Framo James Framo was a US psychologist and pioneer family therapist. He developed an object relations approach to intergenerational and family-of-origin therapy. He collaborated with other pioneers in the field and authored or co-authored several early and significant texts in the field of family...
, |
Individuals choose relationships that attempt to heal insecure attachments from childhood. Negative patterns established by their parents (object) are projected onto their partners. |
Detriangulation, Co-Therapy, PsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
, Holding Environment |
| Psychoanalytic Family Therapy |
Nathan Ackerman Nathan W. Ackerman was an American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and one of the most important pioneers of the field of family therapy....
|
By applying the strategies of Freudian psychoanalysis to the family system therapists can gain insight into the interlocking psychopathologies Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...
of the family members and seek to improve complementarity |
PsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
, Authenticity, Joining, Confrontation |
| Solution Focused Therapy Solution focused brief therapy , often referred to as simply 'solution focused therapy' or 'brief therapy', is a type of talking therapy that is based upon social constructionist philosophy. It focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem that made them seek help...
|
Kim Insoo Berg, Steve de Shazer Steve de Shazer was a psychotherapist, author, and developer and pioneer of solution focused brief therapy...
, William O'Hanlon, Michelle Weiner-Davis, Paul WatzlawickPaul Watzlawick was an Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher. A theoretician in communication theory and radical constructivism, he has commented in the fields of family therapy and general psychotherapy...
|
The inevitable onset of constant change leads to negative interpretations of the past and language that shapes the meaning of an individual’s situation, diminishing their hope and causing them to overlook their own strengths and resources. |
Future Focus, Beginner’s Mind, Miracle Question, Goal Setting, Scaling |
| Strategic Therapy |
Jay Haley Jay Douglas Haley was one of the founding figures of brief and family therapy in general and of the strategic model of psychotherapy, and he was one of the more accomplished teachers, clinical supervisors, and authors in these disciplines.-Life and works:Conceived in a log cabin on his family's...
, Cloe Madanes |
Symptoms of dysfunction are purposeful in maintaining homeostasis in the family hierarchy as it transitions through various stages in the family life cycle. |
Directives, Paradoxical Injunctions, Positioning, Metaphoric Tasks, Restraining (Going Slow) |
| Structural Therapy In physics, structural theory explains the large variety in chemical compounds in terms of atoms making up molecules, the order in which atoms are put together in molecules and the electrons that hold them together...
|
Salvador Minuchin Salvador Minuchin is a family therapist born and raised in San Salvador, Entre Ríos, Argentina. He developed Structural Family Therapy, which addresses problems within a family by charting the relationships between family members, or between subsets of family. These charts represent power dynamics...
, Harry Aponte, Charles Fishman, Braulio Montalvo |
Family problems arise from maladaptive boundaries and subsystems that are created within the overall family system of rules and rituals that governs their interactions. |
Joining, Family Mapping, Hypothesizing, Reenactments, Reframing, Unbalancing |
Academic resources
- Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy
- Contemporary Family Therapy
Contemporary Family Therapy is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on family therapy, focusing on recent applied practice and developments in theory and research that is published quarterly by Springer Science+Business Media. The editor-in-chief is Dorothy S. Becvar...
- Context Magazine, AFT, UK
- Family Matters, Australian Institute of Family Studies
- Family Process
Family Process is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on family system issues, including policy and applied practice. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Family Process Institute...
- Family Relations
Family Relations is a peer reviewed academic journal published on behalf of the National Council on Family Relations by Wiley-Blackwell. It covers family studies and social work research, educational practices or philosophies, and professional development for researchers, educators, family policy...
- Journal of Child and Family Studies', ISSN: 1062-1024 (Print) 1573-2843 (Online), Springer
- Journal of Comparative Family Studies, ASIN: B00007M2W5, Univ of Calgary/Dept Sociology
- Journal of Family Psychology
- Journal of Family Studies, ISSN: 1322-9400, eContent Management Pty Ltd
- Journal of Family Therapy, AFT (Association for Family Therapy & Systemic Practice in the UK)
- Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
- Karnac Systemic Thinking and Practice Series
Professional Organizations
See also
- Alternative dispute resolution
Alternative Dispute Resolution includes dispute resolution processes and techniques that act as a means for disagreeing parties to come to an agreement short of litigation. ADR basically is an alternative to a formal court hearing or litigation...
- CAMFT
- Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
- Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
- Deinstitutionalisation
Deinstitutionalization or deinstitutionalization is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health service for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. Deinstitutionalization can have multiple definitions; the first...
- Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
- Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
- Emotionally focused therapy
Emotionally focused therapy is a short term psychotherapy approach to working with couples and more recently with families. It is substantially based on the principles of emotion theory and attachment theory....
- Family Environment Scale
The Family Environment Scale is used to measure the social-environmental characteristics of family. It was developed to measure social and environmental characteristics of all families...
- Family Life Education
Family Life Education is the effort made by American professional organizations, universities, and individuals to strengthen families through social science education.- Definition :The premier professional organization in the U.S...
- Family Life Space
- Internal Family Systems Model
The Internal Family Systems Model is an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D. It combines systems thinking with the view that mind is made up of relatively discrete subpersonalities each with its own viewpoint and qualities...
- Interpersonal psychotherapy
Interpersonal Psychotherapy is a time-limited psychotherapy that focuses on the interpersonal context and on building interpersonal skills. IPT is based on the belief that interpersonal factors may contribute heavily to psychological problems. It is commonly distinguished from other forms of...
- Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
- Mediation
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...
- Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
Multisystemic Therapy is an intensive, family-focused and community-based treatment program for chronic and violent youth...
- Positive psychology
Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in...
- Relationships Australia
Relationships Australia began in 1948 under the name of Marriage Guidance Council. They are an Australian not-for profit organisation providing professional services to support relationships across Australia....
- Strategic Family Therapy
Strategic therapy is one of the major models of both family and brief psychotherapy. It was inspired by the work of Milton Erickson, MD and Don Jackson, MD and has been associated with the work of Jay Haley and Cloe Madanes , the Brief Therapy Team at the Mental Research Institute Strategic...
External links
Included in this list are the main professional associations in the
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and internationally; they reflect to some degree the different theoretical, ideological, and cross-cultural views of family therapy theory and practice.