Material, Myth, and Magic: A Cultural Approach to Family Therapy |
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| Authors: | WENCKE J. SELTZER M.A. MICHAEL R. SELTZER PH.D. |
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| Affiliation: | Clinical Psychologist, The National Hospital, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oslo, Norway. Reprint requests should be addressed to Mr. Seltzer at Dalkoveien 12, 1458 Fjellstrand, Norway.;Cultural Anthropologist, The Norwegian State College of Public Administration and Social Work, Oslo, Norway. |
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| Abstract: | This paper presents a model for a therapeutic approach to the cultural systems of families. Using anthropologically derived concepts of material and ideational planes of culture, magic, and ritualistic intervention, the inducement of culture change in frozen familial systems is framed in dialectical terms. Four brief case studies are presented describing the systems engaged, the material-ideational rituals employed, and the cultural transformations induced. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some of the theoretical and practical implications of this cultural approach to the family in therapy. |
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