Chapter 4 Flashcards
many of the struggles in couples and families result from conflicts over these needs.
According to Murray Bowen, the two counterbalancing life forces are
togetherness and individuality
emotional maturity or ego strength—is a developmental accomplishment
Differentiation of self
develop when two people regularly involve third parties in their conflicts with each other
Relationship triangles
goal of Bowenian therapy. Toward that end process questions, designed to help people focus on their own actions and reactions, are the primary tool in treatment.
Understanding, not problem-solving
schematic representations of the extended family, showing connections and relationship dynamics.
Genograms
The pioneers of family therapy recognized that people are products of their context, but they limited their
focus to the nuclear family.
According to Bowen, human relationships are driven by two counterbalancing life forces: individuality and togetherness. We need
companionship, and we need independence.
successfully people reconcile these two polarities of human nature depends on the extent to which they have learned to manage
emotionality, or to use Bowen’s term, their differentiation of self.
Murray Bowen’s interest in families began when he was a psychiatrist at the
Menninger Clinic in the late 1940s
Bowen’s term for psychological separation of intellect and emotions and independence of self from others; opposite of fusion.
differentiation of self:
A three-person system; according to Bowen, the smallest stable unit of human relations.
Triangles
Detouring conflict between two people by involving a third person, stabilizing the relationship between the original pair.
triangulation
Bowen’s early term for emotional “stuck-togetherness” or fusion in the family, especially prominent in schizophrenic families.
undifferentiated family ego mass
The tendency to respond in a knee-jerk emotional fashion, rather than calmly and objectively.
emotional reactivity:
A blurring of psychological boundaries between self and others and a contamination of emotional and intellectual functioning; opposite of differentiation.
Fusion
Bowen’s term for flight from an unresolved emotional attachment.
Emotional cut off
Stages of family life from separation from one’s parents to marriage, having children, growing older, retirement, and finally death.
Family life cycle
A question designed to help family members focus on what they think rather than what they feel, and to help them consider their own reactions and behavior.
Process questions
Bowenian technique: Trying a new behavior to see how it affects family interactions.
relationship experiment:
Nonreactive observations and personal acknowledgement of what one thinks and feels, rather than judging others or saying what should be.
I-positions
A person’s parents and siblings; usually refers to the original nuclear family of an adult.
Family of origin
The family conceived as a collective whole entity made up of individual parts plus the way they function together.
Family system
The solution-focused model has also been applied outside of traditional therapeutic practice to include interventions in
family medicine clinics social service agencies nursing care educational settings and model schools business systems
building on what works and helping people identify what they want rather than what they don’t want
two most powerful ingredients in solution-focused therapy
Searching for exceptions turns out to be a simple but
powerful intervention
People who come to us for help often think of the times when their problems don’t occur as unimportant because these occasions seem
accidental or inconsistent
Calling attention to past successes and latent abilities helps clients rediscover
their own best coping strategies.
One of the great things about the imagination is that with very limited encouragement, people can see themselves
As succeeding rather than fumbling and failing
tapping as it does that wonderful human capacity not just to see things as they are but to imagine things as they might be
Miracle question
To critics, solution-focused therapy seems simplistic, and its emphasis on
solution talk instead of problem talk is seen as manipulative.
Like any other therapy, the solution-focused approach won’t likely be effective if therapists, in a
rush to get to their own agenda, fail to listen to clients and make them feel understood.
