Structural Family Therapy Flashcards
Who is the Founder of Structural Family Therapy?
Minuchin - studied at Philadelphia Child Guidance. Haley trained under him
Who was the founder trained by?
Ackerman
Subsystems
Individuals, dyads, triads and groups form subsystems or units within the family and perform certain functions.
Boundaries
Individuals, subsystems, and families are separated from one another by boundaries. A Boundary is a hypothetical line of demarcation that serves to protect a family and its subsystems
Rigid Boundary
Overly restrictive boundaries that permit little contact with outside subsystems often resulting in disengagement.
Diffuse Boundary
Boundaries that are permeable and permit fluid contact with other subsystems. May be prone to enmeshment.
Clear Boudary
A clear boundary between the parental subsystem and the children established the parents in leadership positions. It allows the parent and children to interact, but supports the couple in a separate relationship, with time to enjoy each other. Healthy families have clear hierarcheral boundaries that allow parents to maintain parental roles and children to maintain child roles.
Disengaged systems
May be independent or isolated
Enmeshed systems
Receive affection and nurturance within the family system but may risk autonomy and outside relationships
Complementarity
A balanced relationship between two individuals that often results in effective teamwork. The relationship may not be symmetrical - that is equal parts- but none the less balanced.
Hierarchy
The pyhsical structure of the family as determined by the systems rules, boundaries and interactional patterns.
Intervening
Structural Family Therapists are continually stepping in and out of the family, raising intensity and unbalancing the system through swift and strategic interventions.
Conflict Management
The families capacity to resolve conflict and negotiate effective and balanced solutions.
Coalitions
When two family members join to create a coalition against one or several other family members.
Joining and Accommodating
An intentional maneuver by the therapist to establish a therapeutic relationship within the family system. The therapist will adapt to the family’s communication pattern and other mannerisms to create a comfortable therapeutic space.
Mimesis
An intentional maneuver by the therapist to join and accommodate with the family by replicating their body language, use of expressive language, mannerisms, and other observable behaviors to create a comfortable, trusting therapeutic space.
Intensity
The therapist can achieve intensity by increasing the affective component of an interaction, by increasing the length of the dialogue or by repeating the same message in different actions thru the use of tone, volume and pacing
Planning
The period in Structural Family Therapy where the the therapist hypothesizes about the structure of the family while remaining curious about its actual structure.
Enactments
Having the family experiment with new ways of behaving and interacting, as instructed by the therapist, in the here and now of the therapeutic encounter.
Spontaneous Behavior Sequences
Similar to enactments, except these behaviors are spontaneous as opposed to being directed by the therapist.
Challenging Family Assumptions
Offers the family alternative perspectives and views on how they interact with one another.
Who is involved in Structural Family Therapy
The whole nuclear family
How long is therapy?
Short term, but not brief. aim to terminate therapy once functioning structure obtained. 10-20 session.
Goal of therapy?
alter, reorganize and restructure family system in a way that promotes problem solving capabilities. Functioning spousal subsystem, clear boundaries between all individuals and subsystems.
