Week 7

Question 1

Definition of family

Answer 1

One definition provided by Anderson and Sabatelli describes family as a complex structure consisting of an
interdependent group of individuals who:

Have a shared sense of history
Experience some degree of emotional bonding
Devise strategies to meet the needs of individual family members and the group as a whole

Question 2

History of Family Counselling

Answer 2

Emerged in 1950s after the Second World War as a new way of dealing with human problems, previously addressed by individual or group psychotherapy

 Based on a new conceptualisation of how problems come to exist, rather than traditional view of childhood experiences

 Based on the belief that problems are related to current interactions taking place between individuals in the family
and the way the family interacts with other system

Question 3

Pioneers in family counselling

Answer 3

Gregory Bateson
Carl Whitaker
Murray Bowen
Jay Haley
Virginnia Satir - lecturers fav
Salvador Minuchin
Peggy Papp
John Gottman
Michael White - also she liked him

Question 4

Stages of Development

Answer 4

Leaving home – single young adults
The joining of families through marriage – the new couple
Families with young children
Families with adolescents
Launching children and moving on
Families in later life

Question 5

Stressors Impacting on Families

Answer 5

Uncoupling through separation or divorce
Blending biological siblings with half-biological or non-biological siblings
Having children at home longer, leave home, or return home
Dealing with financial pressures
Dealing with potential losses, such as miscarriage, death of offspring, death of partner, death of family members or
grandparents
Separation from children (access arrangements)
Issues of abuse and government intervention
Post-separation and post-divorce contact

Question 6

Developing your own model of family therapy

Answer 6

Belief in or commitment to a particular method of treatment has a significant influence on treatment outcome

Best methods are those:
◦Intended or believed to be therapeutic
◦Delivered with a cogent rationale
◦Acceptable to the client

Find a model of family therapy that you think is consistent with your values and temperament

Question 7

Structural family therapy

Answer 7

Developed by Salvador Minuchin

Problems reside within the family structure (not necessarily caused by it)

Children’s problems often a result of marital distress (problem projected onto child)

What roles do family members play?

What are the subsystems?

What are the patterns of relating, how are they sustaining
the problem?

Boundaries – diffuse (too much interference) too rigid (too little support) resulting in enmeshment or disengagement

Individuation of family members

Question 8

Communications / humanistic

Answer 8

Developed by Virginia Satir
Triads/triangulation (comes from a place of bringing in someone else to relieve tension (psych, friend) but if one parent brings in a child, creates a split)

Subsystems
Boundaries
Styles and meaning of communication
Family rules and roles (each fam has their own)

Intergenerational and multigenerational issues (what’s been experienced generations back come up. Because this is the way parents attach and how those children attach and so on)

Enhancing self esteem and strengthening communication

Question 9

Narrative therapy

Answer 9

Narratives or stories are socially constructed and effect our perceptions and predictions

Externalising and investigate the problem
Deconstruct the problem saturated story
Re-author and thicken an alternative story
‘News of difference’ and ‘unique outcomes’
Focus on and amplify evidence of an alternative story
Use less problem saturated language
Clients change the view they have of themselves and access hidden resources

Question 10

Solution focused therapy

Answer 10

Steve de Shazer & Insoo Kim Berg

Problems are socially constructed and shaped by language
Strengths-based and focused on solutions
Looking for exceptions

Scaling questions (“where are you on a scale of 10 is life is perfect and 1 is pointless, want to give up)

Miracle question (If a mircale happens over night and everything is as you want it, what are you all going to be doing?)

Therapist is coach or cheerleader (coaching them along, talking about when change occurs)

Assume client is expert
Use language that presupposes change
From second sessions: E (elicit) A (amplify) R (reflect) S (start process again)

Good with adolescents too cause gives them a sense of agency.

Question 11

Family Systems Theory

Answer 11

Systems theory forms the basis for several key approaches to family and relationship counselling.

Each approach focuses attention of different aspects of family and relationship functioning

Family Systems theory suggests that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another - families are
systems of interconnected and interdependent individuals, none of whom can be understood in isolation from the system

Look at their blueprint for life, their family

Question 12

A family as a system (mobile)

Answer 12

To understand this better, consider the example of a mobile.

When you move any one piece of a mobile, all the other pieces move too. They do not exist in isolation from one
another, and movement in one part of the system will affect all the other parts of the system.

Question 13

Terms from Family Systems Theory

Answer 13

Terms from Family Systems Theory

Family Roles
Family Rules
Homeostasis/Equilibrium
Tasks
Boundaries

Question 14

Family Roles

Answer 14

What is expected of each family member
◦The most basic types of roles are father, mother, aunt,
daughter, son, grandmother, etc.

What is expected from people in each of these
roles?
◦
Other roles: Clown; Peacemaker; ‘Glue’
(keeping the family together); Responsible one;
Emotional one; Crazy one; Caring one

Question 15

Family Rules

Answer 15

Family Rules are rules about how the family
operates; these rules are often unspoken. For
example…
What happens with anger?
How do family members express affection?
How do decisions get made?
What are the rules for interacting with parents – how much can they argue?
Can family members talk to people outside the family about their problems?
Families tend to develop patterns of behaviour and communication, which become unspoken
rules.
Different families do these things differently from one another
What are the rules in your family?

Question 16

Homeostasis (Equilibrium)

Answer 16

Systems develop typical ways of being which are reliable and predictable.
Roles and rules are examples of this

Within a system there is a push to continue functioning as things have always been

Consider the example of the mobile – one part moves, then all parts move. If you let go of that one part, the other parts will pull back to the way they were before that one part moved

This tendency of systems to keep doing things as
they have been done is known as homeostasis or the system’s equilibrium

Question 17

Feedback

Answer 17

A mechanism of controlling interactions of the system. Feedback loops create and maintain interactions
and behaviours
Negative feedback attempts to maintain homeostasis by introducing self correcting information
Positive feedback attempts to bring about further change to the system

Question 18

Tasks

Answer 18

First order tasks – family uses rules 
and strategies to accomplish these 
tasks:
◦Identity tasks
◦Regulate boundaries
◦Create emotional climate
◦Devise strategies to maintain household

Second order tasks – when rules and strategies require modification
◦Problem solving
◦Changing the rules

Second order tasks (behaviour based) involve modification of family customs, strategies and rules to change the system
“Effective families recalibrate or fine tune the ways in which they manage their first-order tasks in response to the changing developmental and contextual realities of
the family system” (Anderson & Sabatelli, 2007, p 12)

Question 19

Flexibility

Answer 19

Flexibility

Flexibility and adaptability are required by families as they make adjustments to the strategies and rules

Need for change may arise from inside the family, through developmental changes, or external to the family as new information comes from outside sources, such as the school

Family may attempt to remain the same, using morphostasis, or be amenable to change using
morphogenesis

Question 20

Case study

Answer 20

Gerald and Emma have just had their first
baby, who is now 3 months old, and was born
on her due date and healthy. While they both
adore their new daughter, they are finding
that stress on their relationship has increased
to the point that they are wondering if they
are “going to make it”. They enlist the help of
a family counsellor.

Throughout the counselling session Gerald
talks about how he wants things to be the
same as they were before their daughter
arrived. He expresses frustration at the lack
of time he and Emma have together and the
fact that she is always tired now.

Emma explains that there have been a lot of changes
since their daughter was born. She left paid
employment, finalised the nursery in her last weeks of
pregnancy, gave birth and recovered from a long
labour, and adjusted to lack of sleep. Gerald generally
is not affected by lack of sleep as Emma looks after
their daughter during the night, and is trying to
establish a rhythm for her parenting and other
activities. Although she appreciates the impact the
changes have had on Gerald, she says she needs
him to support her in the change process she faces.

On further discussion, the counsellor concuded that
Gerald is in a process of morphostasis (wants things
to stay the same) and Emma is in a process of
morphogenesis (adjusting to changes).

The counsellor helps them to empathise with each
other about the amount of change a new baby brings
to a family, the impact these changes have had on
each of them and the ways in which they seem to be
responding

Through discussion, the counsellor and the couple
agree that this is a major change period and both
need to balance the need to adjust to the change with
keeping the important features of their relationship
that they enjoyed before their daughter’s arrival.

They decide on one night a week where they would
share a meal and relax after their daughter was in
bed. They also decided that Emma needed some
time without their daughter so she could look after
herself. It was agreed that at a time suitable to both
of them, Gerald would be responsible for caring for
their daughter, and Emma would have some time for
herself

Question 21

Sub systems

Answer 21

Various smaller units or subsystems together for the larger family system
Subsystems work together and separately to create organisational complexity of family structure
Subsystems may include:
◦Subsystems for each individual family member
◦Subsystems of gender
◦Subsystems for each generation

Question 22

Boundaries and hierarchies

Answer 22

Boundaries are physical or emotional barriers that protect and enhance the integrity of individuals, subsystems
and families
External boundaries demarcate individuals, subsystems and families from outside environment
Internal boundaries regulate flow of information between and within family subsystems

Clear boundaries allow subsystems to carry out their functions supported by effective communication and respect for autonomy

Diffused or enmeshed boundaries allow members of other subsystems into subsystem – communication generally intense, characterised by extreme concern, over-involvement, over-protection, inappropriate interference and intrusion

Rigid boundaries mean disengaged subsystems with poor communication. Members disconnected and isolated from each other, with
little involvement in each other’s lives

Alliances – joining of two members, 
such as mother and child to perform 
task 

Coalitions – joining of two members 
against a third 

Triangulation – process of including a 
third person into a two-person conflict

Question 23

Family Patterns

Answer 23

Often the roles that various family members take on are related to one another.

Distancer/Pursuer: In a relationship, there may be one person (the pursuer) who seeks more closeness with their partner, while the partner (the distancer) wants more space or independence

This could occur in the marital relationship but might also occur in the parent-child relationship

Question 24

Distancer-Pursuer Dyad

& Circular Causality

Answer 24

As the distancer and pursuer act out their
roles within the relationship, a cycle
develops
◦The pursuer pushes for closeness while the distancer pulls back.
◦The pursuer then feels even more of a need for connection and so pushes even harder for connection.
◦As a result, the distancer feels smothered and pulls away even more.
◦So develops the cycle.

Question 25

Circular Causality

Answer 25

How does the cycle start?
It is impossible to say, but both patterns cause the other, which Family systems theorists refer to as circular causality
Circular causality refers to the fact that in family systems, each family member’s behavior is caused by and causes the other family members’ behaviors. They are each impacting the other, in a circular manner

Question 26

Family patterns: Overfunctioner-Underfunctioner Dyad

Answer 26

Another example of circular causality is the
overfunctioner-underfunctioner dyad

In the overfunctioner-underfunctioner dyad, one person (the overfunctioner) is very responsible. In contrast, the other person (the underfunctioner) may be less responsible, more fun-loving, more
spontaneous, etc.
The more the overfunctioner overfunctions, the more the underfunctioner (in reaction) will tend to underfunction

Question 27

Differentiation of self

Answer 27

Developing a person’s ‘self’

The less developed a person’s ‘self’, the more impact others have on his functioning and the more he tries to
control, actively or passively, the functioning of others

An individual’s family relationships during childhood and adolescence primarily influence how much ‘self’ he develops

People with poorly differentiated ‘self’ depend heavily on acceptance and approval of others (can become bullies or
chameleons – threatened by disagreement)

People with a well-differentiated ‘self’ recognize realistic dependence on others, but can stay calm and clear headed enough in the face of conflict, criticism, and rejection
Less differentiated individuals and families are vulnerable to periods of heightened chronic anxiety

Question 28

Family Projection Process

Answer 28

Primary way parents transmit their emotional problems to a child
Projection process follows three steps:
◦Parent focuses on child out of fear that something is wrong with the child
◦Parent interprets the child’s behaviour as confirming the fear
◦The parent treats the child as if something is really wrong with the child