Marital counselling: Teaching an eclectic approach

Limited opportunities for training combined with misperceptions about the nature of marital counselling lead to many professionals conducting consultations with couples without training. Where training exists, generally a specific ‘pure’ approach, or a definite brand of eclecticism is taught. The Sheffield Marital and Sexual Difficulties Clinic training course currently aims to give trainees the building blocks for evolving their own brand of eclecticism, or the opportunity to follow a particular approach. Psychodynamic, behavioural and systems theories are highlighted, and the various ways to which these (and other theories) can be used together are examined.     

Gestalt approach to family therapy

Abstract

Gestalt psychotherapy is presented as a synthesis of a number of psychological traditions. Two particular techniques are described in detail: the empty chair technique which is a strategy that focuses on the parents' internalized object relations which are played out between themselves and with their children; and the Gestalt experiment which is a strategy that focuses on the contact boundaries between family members.     

The educational therapy contribution to a family systems approach

This article draws on the experience of one specialist education unit to demonstrate the usefulness of engaging families directly in the treatment of children showing difficulty in managing tasks and relationships in school. It will look at the overlap of psychoanalytic and systemic ideas and show how theory and practice from both 'schools of thought' allow for a fuller understanding of blocks to school success and also support the family and child in their efforts to 'defeat' a difficulty. I look in particular at the way a psychodynamic focus on a child's inner world can work alongside the systemic focus on family structure, hierarchy and history.     

Toward competence: An eclectic approach

Recent developments in children's rights have led to increased criticism of the presumption of total incompetency until adulthood, a concept inconsistently defined by state law. Citing proposals from several disciplines, this article calls for increasing actual competency in decision-making through systematic education in conjunction with developmental levels and experience. The elements of informed consent are suggested as one mechanism for learning to make educated decisions in a variety of settings. The treatment of hyperkinetic children is discussed as a case example.     

Reflections of an eclectic skeptic

Following primary and secondary education in Europe, I came to the United States for further education. After majoring in engineering, I shifted to liberal arts and social sciences. I minored in mathematics, philosophy, and education at the undergraduate level and physiology at the graduate level, ultimately obtaining a PhD in personality psychology. My interests were primarily academic, but I did not neglect the emerging field of clinical psychology. After working in hospitals for 9 years, I joined the faculty of Michigan State University where I established the psychological clinic and served as its director for 13 years. Subsequently, during 2 sabbaticals in Israel, I researched personality development in unconventional family settings (the kibbutz). I also studied such diverse issues as motivation for parenthood, time perception and time perspective, and cognition in psychopathology. After editing several textbooks on assessment techniques, I initiated the series of triennial Murray lectures that highlighted the dynamic approach to the study of personality.     

The use of family myths as an aid to strategic therapy

The concept of family myth can be used by the therapist to help organize the wealth of information provided by a family in therapy. Rituals, symbols and metaphors can be viewed as structurally related components within the family myth system which enable the therapist to interpret non-literal, analogic communications as a coherent yet primarily symbolic, narrative about the family's shared perceptions of its functioning. The concept of myth is explored in relation to mythology, the family therapy literature, and a case study. Several strategic intervention strategies are proposed which utilize the family's own metaphors, symbols and rituals to re-edit the family myth. Re-editing the myth on a symbolic level should be associated with improved system functioning, including more concrete areas of the family's life.     

An experientially based inductive approach to learning about family therapy

Abstract

The numerous and diverse approaches to the practice of family therapy pose a critical dilemma to practicing family therapists confronted with selecting a direction of study to further enhance their own professional knowledge and skill bases. This paper describes and evaluates a five-phase training model which facilitates practitioners' choices in regard to model selection by providing them with an opportunity to compare their own therapeutic belief and action systems with those of family therapists oriented to one of three historically prominent models of family therapy.     

The rainbow bridge: an approach to family systems via Howards End

Bateson's ideas of artistic expression, the continuity of Art and Science and the nature of Mind are used as cues for the exploration of Howards End, E. M. Forster's novel of family life. Illustrations of systemic concepts are given from the text. Particular relevance is suggested for the use of literary examples in family therapy training and in the development of family systems theory.     

Medical family therapy: an emerging arena for family therapy

This paper describes an important recent development in American family therapy. Medical family therapy uses a biopsychosocial systems model to work with families who have a member with a chronic illness or disability. The authors maintain that family therapy has tended to embrace the mind–body split and to view itself too narrowly as a mental health specialty. Medical family therapists work collaboratively with physicians and other health professionals to help families achieve a sense of agency and communion in facing some of the greatest challenges that life brings.     

Long-term family therapy: A developmental approach

The emphasis in family therapy literature on brief therapy has given a false sense of what family therapy can accomplish. While it has helped to develop different theories of change and refine techniques to deal with resistance, it has caused many clinicians to mistake technique for treatment. A long term developmental approach is advocated in which the family therapist is the general practitioner rather than the specialist. This paper is the result of a 30-year caseload in which there was a group of multi-therapy families.     

A structured approach to disengagement in family therapy with child-focused problems

The aim of this paper is to describe a structured approach to managing the disengagement process. Six distinct disengagement scenarios are first outlined. Thereafter, phasing out therapy, dealing with family belief systems concerning the permanence of improvements and relapse management are discussed. Ways in which disengagement from specific episodes of therapy may be construed as part of an ongoing therapeutic relationship and the practicalities of recontracting for further episodes of therapy, handing over cases, and referring cases on to other professionals are considered. An approach to therapeutic failure analysis is presented. Finally, ways in which disengagement may lead to significant loss experiences are discussed.     

A behavioural and systems approach to family therapy: a position paper

An integrated model of a behavioural and systems approach to family therapy is presented, the main premise being that family interactions are affected by reciprocal determination of cognitions, feelings and behaviours in relation to the environment. Assessment involves a systematic exploration of the interaction and transactional patterns within the family, and the identification of the dysfunctional aspects of such patterns. The main aim of the intervention is to produce change in family behaviour by addressing the important cognitive and affective issues. This entails techniques such as cognitive restructuring, social modelling and operant conditioning which can be used separately, in parallel, or in combination. Whether one or more of these techniques is used depends on the nature of the family's problems and the aims of treatment.