Experiential - Satir Human Growth Model Flashcards
What was Satir’s theory called?
- The Satir Growth Model
- The Human Growth Model
- The Satir Model
- The Human Validation Process Model
Who was Virgina Satir?
The creator of the Satir Growth Model.
Satir was an MRI founder and the training director at the MRI practice in the 1950’s.
When did Satir develop her approach to family therapy?
In the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s.
Satir’s theories evolved over time. Her first approach focused on communication, while her later approach was more humanistic and existential, focusing on the potential of the individual.
What are the key goals and focuses of the Human Validation Process Model?
The primary goal of therapy is to enhance the growth potential of the individual (self actualization) and to integrate the needs of each individual family member for independent growth with the integrity of the family system.
This is done through:
- Instilling hope and shifting focus to strengths and internal resources
- Enhancing self-awareness and understanding of communication patterns; helping each person explore their internal experience of interactions
- Supporting honest communication
- Building self-esteem
- Building coping skills & confidence
- Enhancing congruence
- Reframing problems
- Emphasis on communication, inter-connectedness, & healing power of love & touch
What is the Primary Triad, to Satir?
Self, Context, and Other.
The Primary Triad helps children learn about:
- Safety
- Their bodies
- Their lovability
- Their ability to love
Children’s identities are the outcome of this:
- Self-esteem
- Coping mechanisms
- Stress patterns
- Feelings of inclusion & exclusion
What happens during family dysfunction, and how does dysfunction arise?
Satir viewed family problems as being a symptom of an indication of impaired communication. Impaired communication blocks the freedom of family members to grow and denies them an
opportunity to thrive in a family environment that promotes health, well-being, and good self-esteem.
Symptoms of dysfunction include:
- Avoidance of feelings
- Alienation from experience
- Seeking safety rather than growth
- Oriented toward past/future, not the present
- Low self-esteem
- Destructive communication
What is Congruence?
Alignment between report and command (content and process) and affect/communication and true emotion.
Low self-esteem leads to incongruent communication
What are the incongruent communication stances?
- Placating - attempts to please others to avoid rejection. Internally feels unworthy, unlovable.
- Blaming - Hides vulnerability. Attempts to control others. Disagrees indiscriminately. Internally feels lonely, a failure.
- Super-Reasonable - intellectualizes everything to bypass feeling/feelings. Internally feels vulnerable.
- Irrelevant - pretend the problem is not there. Internally feels uncared for and alienated.
These are survival stances adopted to protect one’s self-worth against threats.
What is the importance of open communication to Satir?
Open Communication means a clear interchange of information and resources within and without the system that is adaptive and dynamic.
Functional families have clear, complete, congruent communication in which there are clear roles and rules to govern family processes.
What is the role of poor communication, to Satir?
Families with poor communication are families in which the communication is indirect, unclear, vague, dishonest, distorted, and incomplete. These same families
are not as adept at nurturing each other, due to inability to communicate. Given that these families are low on the nurturing scale, low self-esteem is often a result.
In essence, poor communication results in low self-esteem, which can trigger individual or familial maladaptive responses, especially in times of high stress.
What does Congruent Communication mean, to Satir?
Congruency not only is obtained by the matching of the verbal (overt) message with the nonverbal (covert) message (relayed via body language, tone, expression, actions/choices, etc.); it also entails
using words that accurately reflect and match one’s feelings and experiences. Verbal messages are always accompanied by and punctuated with nonverbal messages.
Conversely, with incongruent communication, intended messages are distorted. Family members are often confused, conflicted, and even hurt by incongruent messages.
If a person’s messages seem incongruent, the family therapist should ask for clarification, thus helping the person to get in touch with feelings that they may
not be aware of—furthering the therapeutic process.
What is a double-bind message, to Satir?
In a double bind message, the message itself is paradoxical. The messages (statements or commands) are mutually exclusive, in that the receiver feels punished (or is punished) no matter which way he or she responds.
Also, in double-bind messaging:
1. the individual must be exposed to double-level messages
repeatedly and over a period of time.
2. these (double-level) messages must come from persons who have survival significance.
3. The person must be conditioned in the relationship not to ask clarifying questions such as “Did you mean that or that?” but must
accept conflicting messages in all their impossibility.
What is Satir’s belief about FOO?
Our family of origin, including past generations, has a significant influence on our attitudes and behaviors. Satir saw parents as architects of their present family. They bring together what they have learned in their own families, blending it both consciously and unconsciously to form the context of their current family.
Satir saw the family as a hierarchy in which there are inequalities, power imbalances, disharmony, conformity, and the loss of a sense of uniqueness and personhood. Someone dominates and believes that there is a “right way” to which
everyone must conform. When this is the case, there is loss of self, as all the members—including the dominant ones—must give up some of their true selves to accommodate to the system. Hence, Satir viewed the present family unit is often unduly influenced by past generations, which have significant influence on the present family’s attitude, behaviors, family structure, hierarchy, power, and balance.
Parents may have unrealistic expectations of their children because they are not aware of children’s developmental needs.
What does Satir believe about family rules and roles?
Family rules and family roles are an important communication factor in family pathology, in that family rules are expected behaviors that get woven in the “family fabric.”
Satir saw family rules and roles as a transgenerational issue: rules from one’s family of origin are passed down through generations, consciously or unconsciously.
Healthy, functional, and adaptive family rules and roles are those that are clear, flexible, and adaptive to the environment and changing developmental needs of the family and its individual members. On the other hand,
dysfunctional family rules are rigidly enforced, autocratically developed, and everlasting. Satir believed that rules restricting freedom of expression are especially instrumental in decreasing self-esteem and functionality.
How was Satir influenced by MRI?
Satir believed families are systems and as such seek balance; when that balance is maintained through inappropriate roles, restrictive rules, and/or unrealistic expectations, the members’ needs will not be met, and dysfunction will occur.
