Psychotherapeutic Methods - The Milan School of Family Therapy

Flashcards on Milan School of Family Therapy

Milan School of Family Therapy

A therapeutic approach where Selvini Palazzoli and colleagues, dissatisfied with the psychodynamic model, sought new ways to intervene strategically with family behavior patterns.

Family Patterns of Behavior

Repetitive and redundant patterns of behavior within families.

Standard Session Format

Format of a session including: pre-session, session, inter-session break, inter-session intervention, and post-session discussion to develop, validate, and deliver interventions.

Positive Connotation

A technique derived from MRI, reframing symptoms as serving a protective function within the family system and delivering it during final intervention so situation should not change.

Rituals

Engaging the family in actions that countered or exaggerated rigid family rules and myths. Also was used to dramatize postive connotations, such as expressing gratitude each night

Second Phase Historic Background

A shift towards looking at families' belief systems and introducing change and difference through new meanings, with a focus on the family creating new patterns.

Hypothesizing

The start of the therapeutic journey and must be similar, but slightly different from, that of the family.

Circularity

The executive part of hypothesizing with the therapist’s aim to clarify patterns of interaction.

Neutrality

A sense of respect and acceptance towards the family system, including persons, beliefs/ideas and change.

Triadic questions

Questions to a 3rd person about a relationship between another two, to help family members develop a better understanding of their family as a system.

Spatial difference questions

Difference in relationship (who is closer), ideas/beliefs (what is the meaning), and time frame (who was closest before/during/after).

Temporal difference questions

Past-Past, Past-Present, Past-Future, Present-Future, and Future-Future questions to promote discussion and understanding.

Clarification questions

Questions to generate a classification around a certain dimension.

Behaviour effect questions

Questions to clarify behaviour sequences.

The Last Phase

Palazzoli's strategic and adversarial stance using the invariant prescription

Post-Milan Techniques

Boscolo and Cecchin establishing a collaborative therapeutic style focused on the interviewing process and curiosity to explore alternative views.

Second order cybernetics

Impossible to describe a human system without accounting for the observer.

Reflecting teams

A practice where the consulting team shares their ideas in front of the family to give perspective.