psychodynamic issues in family therapy

Question 1

how is change viewed in psychodynamic therapy

Answer 1

-analytic exploration, anxious involvement in outcome is avoided, and the right climate must be established

Question 2

couples argument for psychodynamic vs. other therapy modalities

Answer 2

-Systemic, behavioral and strategic all review the fight and look to patterns of communication

Psychodynamic thinkers explore the emotional reactions.
-why are people angry? is it because they have unworked dynamics, or is it through a projection, what traumatic event is this anger connected to

-Neither is 100% right, both of them have value and at times you will be doing both

Question 3

Dick’s 1967 Comment

Answer 3

-Many couples are found to have “shared internal objects.”

In other words, the members of the couple may not see the other as “real,” but rather, a version of their parent.
-This is a dynamic topic that is absolutely real

Question 4

why is countertransference still needed in systems work

Answer 4

If one follows the internal shared object belief, making a direct comment about one’s parent (e.g. He is a bully, much like your father) is only moderately helpful. They believed that by being aware of our counter-transference the more subtle reactions become more evident.
-Counter transference is not the same phenomenon as in individual work because we are doing this a lot with a lot of different people in the room

Question 5

Contextual Therapy Boszormenvi-Nagy

Answer 5

the therapy that forms the bridge between individual and family therapy, believed people are striving for trustworthiness and fairness in close relationships, and all relationships are determined by four dimensions

Question 6

what are the four dimensions of relations according to Boszormenvi-Nagy

Answer 6

1) Objectifiable facts: Issue of the individual and family history
2) Individual psychology: concerns, hurts, disappointments, ego strength, defenses, coping style…
3) Systems of transactional patterns: family systems
4) Relational ethics: The ethic of due consideration and merited trust
-Only model that makes mention of ethic
-If you are in a situation where you are not receiving the kind of trust you deserve, there is a reason you are hurt

Question 7

what drives us in contextual therapy

Answer 7

-Not just internal drives and needs.
-Not just transactions.
-Any transaction between 2 people is giving and receiving. Thus people are in a “relational balance” of Entitlement of Indebtedness.

Question 8

focus in contextual therapy

Answer 8

-Individual functioning within the family system
-Establishing a working relationship with each family member
-Making sense of the unfortunate reality: people who genuinely care about and love their families often cause great hurt to those same people.

Question 9

explain fairness in contextual therapy

Answer 9

-Everyone should have the right to present their issues, give their side in a conflict, and be able to hear the position of the other.
-Children have the right to love, and show love, to any parent (regardless of the parental relationship).

Question 10

explain history in contextual therapy

Answer 10

-The critical factor of history is to understand ways in which one has been hurt.
-In essence, the therapist tracks a client’s experience of unfairness or injustice. This can be from the family or society.
-(this matches with Bowen, Ackerman, Framo and Wynne)

Question 11

the fundamental goal of contextual therapy

Answer 11

-“The fundamental defining goal is to help people be more considerate in their relationships with those closest to them, give more spontaneously and freely of themselves to those in their families, and state their own needs and wishes in a spirit of open dialogue.” Goldenthal, Doing Contextual Therapy, 1994

Question 12

the therapuetic contract in contextual therapy

Answer 12

Contract Includes all Family Members
-Anyone who could be affected by the intervention is recognized.
-Multi-directed Partiality
-The conceptual therapist is working to exhibit the welfare of all people whose lives are affected by treatment

Question 13

explain multi-directed partiality in contextual therapy

Answer 13

-The Contextual therapist is working to consider the welfare of all people whose lives are affected as a result of treatment.

One is “partial” to each of these people-we are prepared to take each person’s side, when that action is called for.

It is not neutrality, rather, partiality to all.
-Ex. If we are talking about an abusive grandmother, the therapist will let the clients know that there will be a point in therapy where the therapist talks about why she is the way she is, every member of the system deserves a moment where the therapist is partial to them and the way they are
-For this to work you really have to work on your own issues

Question 14

is contextual family therapy more of a long term or short term model

Answer 14

long term model, doing in-depth analysis on members

Question 15

explain early injustice in contextual family therapy

Answer 15

-One’s ability to trust can be damaged.
-The focus is the re-establishment of some measure of giving and receiving between family members.

Question 16

contextual therapy is not…..

Answer 16

-Multi-directed partiality is not used to create unbalance. It is not meant as a strategic move, rather, it is saying that each position be considered—every voice has the right to be heard.
-It is not an attempt to be equally partial to everyone—it is not litigious—we, the therapist decide who needs our partiality at that moment.

Question 17

three steps in multi directed partiality

Answer 17

1. Empathy
   -One can be partial without endorsement
2. Fairness
   -What has been unfair in the person’s past
   -Acknowledge the depth of feeling, identify what was unfair
3. Help people see that they can be “held accountable.” “Do you this your son was hurt when you said…..?”

Question 18

explain destructive entitlement

Answer 18

-One might be blinded by how unfair life has been and may rely on their right to be hurt and angry such a way that one might say they are entitled to their bitter response.
-E.g. The ill child did not bring on their illness, might deserve recompense.
-In a sense, someone might have the right to be insensitive.

Question 19

explain constructive entitlement

Answer 19

-Constructive Entitlement is resilience.
-The person who has accrued destructive entitlement, but rely on the opposite. They become invulnerable to the numbing of loss through some inoculation.
-People who see possibilities, are likely relying on constructive entitlements.

Question 20

opposing views in contextual therapy

Answer 20

opposing views need to be tolerated
-Why, do you suspect, that the therapist’s own therapy is so critical in this type of work?