Chap. 6 - family therapy Flashcards
To understand one family _____, you must understand the family _____
Member
System
Boundaries
Barriers that protect and enhance the functional integrity of families and individuals
Clearly defined boundaries
Maintain an individuals separateness
Rigid/inflexible boundaries
May lead to distant relationships and disengagement
Diffuse boundaries
May lead to enmeshment
Circular causality
A series of actions and reactions within a family that maintain a problem. An ongoing feedback loop.
Family homeostasis
Tendency of families to resist change to maintain homeostasis.
Morphogenesis
Family’s tendency to adapt to change when changes are necessary
Morphostasis
Family’s tendency to remain stable in the midst of change
Originator of family systems therapy
Bowen
Treatment goals of family systems therapy
Increase levels of self-differentiation
Triangles
Dyads that form triads to decrease stress
Nuclear family emotional system
Level of differentiation of the parents is usually equal to the level of differentiation of the entire family
Multi-transmission process
Dysfunction present over several generations
Family projection process
Parents transmitting their level of differentiation onto the most susceptible child
