Family standing hand-in-hand on the beach Family unit systems therapy draws on systems thinking in its view of the family unit as an emotional unit of measurement. When systems thinking—which evaluates the parts of a system in relation to the whole—is practical to families, it suggests behavior is both oft informed by and inseparable from the functioning of 1'southward family of origin.

Families experiencing conflict within the unit and seeking professional assistance to address it may find family systems therapy a helpful approach.

  • The Development of Family Systems Therapy
  • Family Systems Therapy Approaches
  • Family Systems Therapy and the Genogram
  • 8 Interlocking Concepts ofFamily Systems Theory
  • How Can Family unit Systems Therapy Aid?
  • Limitations and Concerns

The Development of Family unit Systems Therapy

Family systems therapy is based on Murray Bowen's family unit systems theory, which holds that individuals are inseparable from their network of relationships. Similar other psychoanalysts of his time, Murray Bowen was interested in creating more scientific and objective handling processes as an alternative to conventional diagnostic frameworks and pathological language. Bowen believed all therapists had experienced challenges inside their family unit of origin and that an awareness of this could help therapists normalize human behavior for people in treatment.

Bowen introduced family unit systems theory in the belatedly 1960s after years of inquiry into the family patterns of people with schizophrenia who were receiving handling and the patterns of his own family of origin.

Traditional individual therapy frequently addresses the individual's inner psyche in order to generate change in relationships and other aspects of life. Bowen's theory suggests information technology is beneficial to address the structure and behavior of the broader relationship system, which he believed to play a part in the formation of graphic symbol. According to Bowen, changes in behavior of one family member are probable to accept an influence on the manner the family unit functions over time.

Family unit Systems Therapy Approaches

Many forms of family unit therapy are based on family systems theory. Family unit systems approaches generally fall under the categories of structural, strategic, or intergenerational:

  • Structural family therapy, designed by Salvador Minuchin, looks at family unit relationships, behaviors, and patterns equally they are exhibited inside the therapy session in social club to evaluate the structure of the family. Employing activities such as role play in session, therapists besides examine subsystems within the family structure, such equally parental or sibling subsystems.
  • Strategic family therapy, developed by Jay Haley, Milton Erickson, and Cloe Madanes, amongst others, examines family unit processes and functions, such equally communication or problem-solving patterns, by evaluating family behavior outside the therapy session. Therapeutic techniques may include reframing or redefining a problem scenario or using paradoxical interventions (for case, suggesting the family have action seemingly in opposition to their therapeutic goals) in social club to create the desired modify. Strategic family therapists believe change can occur rapidly, without intensive analysis of the source of the trouble.
  • Intergenerational family unit therapy acknowledges generational influences on family unit and private behavior. Identifying multigenerational behavioral patterns, such as management of anxiety, can help people see how their current problems may be rooted in previous generations. Murray Bowen designed this approach to family unit therapy, using it in treatment for individuals and couples as well as families. Bowen employed techniques such equally normalizing a family's challenges by discussing similar scenarios in other families, describing the reactions of individual family members instead of interim them out, and encouraging family members to respond with "I" statements rather than accusatory statements.

Family Systems Therapy and the Genogram

A genogram, or pictorial representation of a family's medical history and interpersonal relationships, can be used to highlight psychological factors, hereditary traits, and other meaning issues or past events that may impact psychological well-beingness.

Bowen used genograms for both assessment and treatment. Start, he would interview each member of the family in guild to create a detailed family history going back at to the lowest degree iii generations. Bowen and then used this information to help highlight important information as well as any behavioral or mental health concerns repeating across generations. He initially believed information technology took iii generations for symptoms of schizophrenia to manifest within the family, though he later on revised this estimate to 10 generations.

Eight Interlocking Concepts of Family Systems Theory

Eight major theoretical concepts class the foundation of the Bowenian approach. These concepts are interconnected, and a thorough understanding of each may be necessary in social club to sympathize the others.

These theoretical constructions include, in no item order:

  1. Differentiation of self, the core concept of Bowen's approach, refers to the manner in which a person is able to separate thoughts and feelings, respond to anxiety, and cope with the variables of life while pursuing personal goals. An individual with a high level of differentiation may be better able to maintain individuality while still maintaining emotional contact with the group. A person with a depression level of differentiation may experience emotional fusion, feeling what the group feels, due to insufficient interpersonal boundaries betwixt members of the family unit. Highly differentiated people may exist more likely to achieve contentment through their own efforts, while those with a less-adult self may seek validation from other people.A teenager sits on sofa with parents and shows them how to use a laptop
  2. An emotional triangle represents the smallest stable network of human relationship systems (larger human relationship systems can exist perceived as a network of interlocking triangles). A two-person dyad may exist for a time but may go unstable as anxiety is introduced. A three-person system, all the same, may provide more resources toward managing and reducing overall anxiety within the group. Despite the potential for increased stability, many triangles plant their own rules and exist with two sides in harmony and one side in conflict—a situation which may lead to difficulty. Information technology is common for children to become triangulated inside their parents' human relationship.
  3. The family unit projection procedure, or the transmission of a parent's anxiety, relationship difficulties, and emotional concerns to the child within the emotional triangle, may contribute to the development of emotional issues and other concerns in the child. The parent(s) may first focus feet or worry onto the child and, when the child reacts to this past experiencing worry or anxiety in turn, may either try to "fix" these concerns or seek professional person help. Withal, this may oftentimes have further negative impact as the child begins to be further affected past the business organization and may become dependent on the parent to "gear up" it. What typically leads to the virtually improvement in the child is management, on the part of the parent(s), of their ain concerns.
  4. The multigenerational transmission process, according to Bowen, depicts the mode that individuals seek out partners with a similar level of differentiation, potentially leading certain behaviors and conditions to be passed on through generations. A couple where each partner has a low level of differentiation may have children who have even lower levels of differentiation. These children may somewhen have children with even lower levels of differentiation. When individuals increment their levels of differentiation, co-ordinate to Bowen, they may be able to break this pattern, achieve relief from their symptoms of low differentiation, and prevent symptoms from returning or occurring in other family members.
  5. An emotional cutoff describes a situation where a person decides to best manage emotional difficulties or other concerns within the family system by emotionally distancing themselves from other members of the family. Cutting emotional connections may serve as an attempt to reduce tension and stress in the human relationship and handle unresolved interpersonal issues, just the end result is often an increase in anxiety and tension, although the relationship may exist less fraught with readily apparent conflict. Bowen believed emotional cutoff would lead people to place more importance on new relationships, which would add together stress to those relationships, in plough.
  6. Sibling position describes the tendency of the oldest, middle, and youngest children to assume specific roles inside the family due to differences in expectation, parental discipline, and other factors. For example, older children may be expected to act as miniature adults within the family setting. These roles may exist influenced by the sibling position of parents and relatives.
  7. The societal emotional process illustrates how principles affecting the emotional system of the family also affect the emotional system of society. Individuals in society may feel greater anxiety and instability during periods of regression, and parallels can be noted between societal and familial emotional part. Factors such as overpopulation, the availability of natural resource, the health of the economy, and then on can influence these regressive periods.
  8. The nuclear family unit emotional process reflects Bowen's belief that the nuclear family tends to experience issues in four chief areas: intimate partner conflict, problematic behaviors or concerns in one partner, emotional altitude, and impaired functionality in children. Feet may pb to fights, arguments, criticism, under- or over-operation of responsibilities, and/or distancing beliefs. Though a person's item belief system and attitude toward relationships may impact the development of issues according to relationship patterns, Bowen held them to be primarily a consequence of the family emotional system.

How Can Family Systems Therapy Aid?

Family systems therapy has been used to treat many mental and behavioral health concerns. In general, it may exist considered an effective approach for those concerns that announced to relate to or manifest within the family of origin. Family unit systems therapy has been shown to be effective with families, couples, and individuals.

This approach may be helpful in addressing atmospheric condition such as schizophrenia, alcohol and substance dependency, bipolar, anxiety, personality issues, low, and eating and food issues.

Limitations and Concerns

Though Bowenian family systems therapy is a popular mode of treatment that both therapists and people in handling accept attested to the effectiveness of the approach, at present in that location is a limited base of operations of empirical evidence backing the approach. Though the evidence base is growing, more data—specially from objective sources—may help confirm its efficacy.

A 2nd criticism of the approach is the seemingly unwavering neutrality of its practitioners. Some mental health experts believe that by remaining neutral, unaffected, or silent at all costs, practitioners of family unit systems therapy may be giving tacit approval to any harmful behaviors individuals in therapy may be exposing themselves or other people to.

References:

  1. Baege, G. (2005). Bowen family systems theory. Retrieved from http://www.vermontcenterforfamilystudies.org/bowen_family_systems_theory
  2. Brown, J. (2008). Is Bowen theory nevertheless relevant in the family therapy field? Journal of the Counsellors  and Psychotherapists Association of NSW Inc, 3, 11-17. Retrieved from http://www.thefsi.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Is-Bowen-Theory-still-relevant-in-the-Family-Therapy-field.docx.pdf
  3. Brown, J. (2012). Growing yourself upward: How to bring your best to all of life's relationships (iii-5). Wollombi, NSW: Exisle Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.thefsi.com.au/us/bowen-theory
  4. Family Solutions Institute. (2015.) Strategic & Systemic. Family Solutions Institute MFT Written report Guide (Affiliate 4). Retrieved from http://www.mftlicense.com/pdf/sg_chpt4.pdf
  5. Introduction to the genogram. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.genopro.com/genogram
  6. ​Kerr, M. E. (2000). One family's story: A primer on Bowen theory. Retrieved from https://world wide web.thebowencenter.org/theory/eight-concepts
  7. Winek, J.50. (2010). Systemic family therapy: From theory to exercise. London: SAGE Publications, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/29841_Chapter5.pdf