Family Sytems Flashcards
Dyad(s)
Relationships that exist between 2 people within the larger system. Understanding the nature of these relationships in terms of how they could be impacting the system as a whole. Enmeshment, tensions, traumas, etc.
if this happens, work towards differentiation, encouraging dyadic therapy between individuals who have tension, increasing flexibility.
Emotional Cut-Off
Coping with unresolved emotional issues with family members through reducing, or completely cutting off, emotional contact. This often does not resolve the issue and can lead to increased focus/anxiety on other relationships.
Triangulation
Dyad draws in a third person to alleviate tension because they cannot manage tension within their relationship. Triangulation- when there is tension between two people in the family there is a natural tendency to triangulate a third person into the issue.
Differentiation
Differentiation is conceptualized as maintaining meaningful connections to others while simultaneously thinking and operating as an individual within the family system.
Opposite of differentiation is fusion.
How does family systems theory conceptualize family?
- The family is greater than the sum of its parts. We can begin by acknowledging the individual struggles and issues, but will then go into how this affects the family system as a whole.
- No individual person is responsible for the family’s distress, but individuals may place that blame anyway.
Subsystems
Executive: Who has the most power in system
Parental: can be parents, or parent + caregiver, or parent + older child
Sibling: sibling + sibling
There may be alliances/tensions (AKA dyads)
Family Rules & Patterns
Rules may be explicit or implicit (and often are implicitly communicated). Interactions may follow patterns. There may be meta-rules (expectations of adjusting or forming new rules and patterns within the family).
Roles
- Hero ~ “good/responsible” child, high achiever, goal-oriented, self-disciplined, carries family pride
- Rescuer ~ takes care of others needs/emotions, problem-solves for others in the family, may live with guilt
- Mediator ~ does emotional work to avoid conflict, act as a buffer
- Scapegoat/black sheep ~ family member who needs help/treatment, may be unable to work through problems
- Switchboard ~ central information center in the family, they keep track of everything
- Power broker ~ maintains hierarchy in family with themselves at the top, they feel the need to maintain control
- Lost child ~ subservient good child, obedient, passive, hidden in family trauma, stay hidden to avoid causing a problem, fearful of making decisions
- Clown ~ uses humor to offset family conflict, can lighten the moment but may hide true feelings
- Cheerleader ~ provided support/encouragement to others, balance in taking care of self and others
- Nurturer ~ provides emotional support, creates safety, may be a mediator, focus on meeting emotional needs
- Thinker ~ provides objective, reasoning focus, sees logic/objectivity, may find it difficult to connect emotional
- Truthteller ~ reflects system as it is, may offend other family members, strength when paired with positive roles of nurturer or cheerleader
Open vs. Closed Systems
Open systems: open to outside info, permeable boundaries.
Closed systems: not open to outside info, impermeable boundaries
Communication in the System
- Meta-communication: message about the message, beyond the literal meaning
- Secrets: created to protect some family members
- Myths: denial of a reality, or a particular version to protect members from reality
Multigenerational Transmission Process
- How relational patterns, symptoms, strengths, challenges, behaviors, and anxiety are passed from one generation to the next. Usually one child will be more differentiated than the other. We marry people who are close to our own level of differentiation.
- Highly differentiated people have stable nuclear families and contribute to society. Poorly differentiated people have chaotic personal lives and depend heavily on others.
Sibling Position
Roles are commonly seen among siblings who fall in certain position (e.g. oldest/middle/youngest)
Defining features of Family Systems Therapy (FST)
- No single person orchestrates the interaction patterns
- All bxs make sense in context
- No single person can be blamed for family in distress
- Personal characteristics are system dependent
** if one family member is having first psychotic episode - may not need FST, but may need support in helping the individual in the family with mental illness
How to work in a systems outlook?
Clinicians with a systems outlook concern themselves with understanding what is occurring (say, conflict between a troubled marital pair), how it occurs (observing its current repetitive patterns), and when it occurs (whenever issues over power and control arise) rather than searching for why it is occurring.
Family systems therapy is appropriate for collectivist ethnic minority families bc it is strength based and facilitates resilience.
What is the bio-ecological model?
The relationships children have with parents and caregivers impact their development – and these relationships are affected by their work, school, and community settings, which are in turn affected by broader social, cultural, and policy conditions. These many layers of relationships and environments interact with each other – ultimately influencing how children develop and become resilient.
