Theories 2 Final Exam

General Systems Theory

Systems can be viewed in terms of hierarchy, executive organization, and subsystems; systems strive toward self-preservation

Cybernetic theory

how systems maintain balance or homeostasis through self-correction

Homeostasis

the unique set of behavioral, emotional and interaction norms that create stability for the family

Closed vs. Open System

- Open: system regularly interact with the environment

- Closed: system avoids interacting with external systems

Boundaries (General systems theory)

Impermeable, semi-permeable, highly permeable

Negative vs Positive Feedback

- Negative feedback: corrects the system back to normal homeostatic conditions

- Positive feedback: introducing new behaviors to a system to create a new homeostasis

First-order change

When a system returns to its previous homeostasis after positive feedback; roles change but family structures and rules stay the same

Second-order change

when a system restructures its homeostasis in response to positive feedback; rules that govern the systems shift

Double-Bind

Two people in a tense relationship, a message is given with a primary and secondary contradictory injunction, and the receiver cannot escape the contradiction

- Ex: Asking partner they they never buy flowers, but upset when the partner subsequently buys flowers

Intergenerational Family Therapy

Murray Bowen; Psychodynamic approach that applies systems to families and analyzes three generations of emotional processes

Differentiation of Self

on a continuum; the ability to balance the need for autonomy and togetherness; sense of self vs emotional reactivity

Triangles

When a dyad draws in a third person/thing to stabilize it; basic process of systems; unhealthy way of alleviating tension

Emotional Cutoff

A person physically/emotionally disengaging with another member of system in order to manage unresolved anxiety

Genograms

Visual map of 3 generations of a family that illustrates generational patterns, relationships, stress, anxiety,

Intra- vs Interpersonal functioning

Multigenerational Transmission Process

process in which emotional dysfunction and levels of differentiation are re-enacted and passed down to later generations

Family Projection Process

how parents project their problems and immaturity onto one or more children, contributing to lower differentiation and increased risk of behavioral/psychological issues

Sibling Position

Birth order influences individuals personalities and their interactions with future spouses

- Oldest = responsibility and authority, middle = flexible and flies under radar, youngest = free-spirit, underog

Chronic Anxiety

Automatic physical and emotional reaction to crisis, loss, or conflict that is not mediated through conscious, logical processes; present in all systems

Societal Emotional Processes

Societies experiencing sustained chronic anxiety respond with emotional reactivity and regressive behaviors

- war and disaster --> racism, crime, divorce

Goals of Bowen Theory

To increase each person's level of differentiation

To decrease emotional reactivity to chronic anxiety in the system

Structural Family Therapy

Salvador Minuchin; framework for mapping out the relational aspects of family communication and interactional patterns, which highlight and acknowledge their hierarchy and covert rules

Structural Therapeutic Relationship

Therapist joins and accommodates to the family an its style

Subsystems

Smaller systems that operate within the context of a larger system

- Parental, spousal, siblings

Covert coalition

when two members join forces to form an alliance against another member, causing conflict or other issues to arise

Boundaries

- Clear: well-defined rules that allow for emotional closeness and distance

- Enmeshed and Diffuse: weak boundaries where there is no distinction between members, leading to enmeshment; over-protective system focused on loyalty

- Disengaged and Rigid: strong boundaries where autonomy is overly emphasized, leading to relational disengagement; little repercussion or demands, and highly focused on freedom of members

Enactments

Therapist asks family to re-enact a conflict or other interactions and uses it to map, track, and modify the family problematic interactional sequences

Hierarchy

- Effective: parents set boundaries and limits while still maintaining an emotional connection with children

- Insufficient: parents are not able to effectively manage the child's behavior; they often adapt a permissive parenting style

- Excessive: rules are too strict; unrealistic and consequences too severe; almost always a rigid boundary between children and parents

Affective Intensity/Crisis induction

altering the degree of intensity/inducing a crisis to create structural shifts in hierarchy and boundaries and encourage family to address problem

Unbalancing

Therapists use expert position to temporarily "join sides" with scapegoated individuals or subsystems that need stronger boundaries; used only for extreme difficulties in hierarchy

Goals of Structural Family Therapy

Clear boundaries between all subsystems, clear distinction between marital subsystem and parental subsystem, effective parental hierarchy, healthy family structure that promotes growth

Strategic Therapy types

Washington School, MRI, Milan, Strategic Therapy

Which Strategic School of thought is credited with the "Invariant Prescription"?

Milan Systemic therapy

Which Strategic School of thought is credited with "Circular Questioning"

Milan Systemic therapy

Which Strategic School of thought is credited as being the bridge between Modern & Postmodern therapy approaches?

Milan Systemic therapy

What Strategic School of thought are Jay Haley & Cloe Madanes associated with?

Strategic Therapy

- Family Therapy Institute in Washington

Primary Milan interventions

the hypothesizing process, counter paradox, circular questions, positive connotations, invariant prescription

Primary MRI interventions

Systemic Reframing, Double bind, Dangers of Improvement, Directives

Primary Strategic Therapy interventions

Directives, Indirect Directives (paradoxical and metaphorical), Pretend Techniques, Ordeals

Strategic therapy goals

- Symptom-free interaction patterns

- Family system will reorganize itself from within in response to perturbation to become "functional"

- promote change that alters people's subjective experiences (mood, thoughts, and behaviors)

- Ultimate goal is to help clients find ways to love without dominating, intruding upon, or harming others

The Human Validation Process Model

Virginia Satir; promotes open communication and authentic emotional experiences; people naturally tend towards and possess the ability for positive growth

Congruence

the ability to communicate authentically while responding to the needs of both self and others

Survival Stances (5)

- Super reasonable: logic and rules

- Irrelevant: closs clown, shifts the focus away

- Congruent: authentic and balanced

- Placator: one down stance, people pleaser

- Blamer: put blame on others, feels threatened

Family sculpting

putting family members in physical positions that represent how the "sculptor" sees each person's role in the family

Survival triad

Child, mother, and father - and the quality of the relationship between all three

Satir Therapeutic presence

warmth, humanity, and making contact (eye contact, touching, sitting at eye level)

Satir goals

To achieve optimal realization of a person's full potential at the relational level: congruent communication and individual level: self-actualization

Symbolic-Experiential Therapy

Carl Whitaker; focused on the emotional process and family structure; authentically "being" with families and their anxieties

Therapeutic "I-Thou" Relationship

authentic use of self, personal integrity, simulating mutual growth

Existential encounter

In-the-moment authentic encounters with the client to directly experience who the other is in a holistic way

Therapy of the Absurd

absurdity is used to perturb the system in a compassionate and caring way

Individuation

Each family member should be able to hold unique opinions and speak for themselves

Family interactions

therapist tries to understand each person's preferred family roles, beliefs about life, values within relationships, developmental and family histories, and interactional patterns

Symbolic-Experiential Therapist presence

balance strong emotional confrontation with warmth and support; use of symbolism and real-life experiences, humor, play, and confrontation

Battle for structure vs initiative

Therapist should win battle for structure

Client should win battle for initiative

Postmodern Therapies

Narrative, Solution focused, Collaborative; reality is constructed and negotiated through relationships

What population is postmodern therapy good for?

diverse populations as they integrate consideration of cultural issues at the most fundamental level of their method

Solution-Focused Therapy

Insoo Kim Berg & Steve de Shazer; minimum time talking about problems and instead focus on moving clients toward enacting solutions

Solution Focused Foundational Assumptions

Resistance is not a useful concept

Change is inevitable

Only small changes are necessary

Clients have strengths and resources to change

Problems are unsuccessful attempts to resolve difficulties

Don't need to know about the problem to solve it

Multiple perspectives

Beginner's mind

listening to each client's story as if you are listening for the first time, not assuming with personal or professional knowledge

Miracle question

helps the client envision a future without the problem, generating hope and motivation

- "Imagine in the middle of the night a miracle happens: the problems you came here for are resolved. However, when you wake up, you have no idea a miracle has occurred. What would you notice that would be different? What are the first clues that a miracle has occurred?"

Scaling Questions

asking clients to use a scale to define their goals and rate their progress toward them on a 0-10

Hypothetical frame

When the problem is solved, what will you be doing differently?

Exception questions/frame

Find exceptions to problems, use as clues to what works and can be used as a solution; When isn't the problem happening?

Client Motivation for therapy types

- Visitor: do not have complaints, but others do against them

- Complainant: There to have problem fixed by an expert not by thmselves

- Customer: identify a problem and want to take action towards a solution

Solution focused goals

Move people from "Problem" to "Solution"; emphasize what the

client is going to be doing rather than focusing on symptom reduction; ongoing goaling

Narrative Therapy

Michael White and David Epston; Based on the premise that we "story" and create the meaning of life events using available dominant discourses; separating the person from the problem and identifying alternative ways to interact

Dominant dissourses

Broad societal stories, sociocultural practices, assumptions, and expectations about how we should live

Local discourses

shared meanings, rules, and actions within our heads, close relationships, and marginalized communities that challenge dominant discourses

Example of dominant vs local discourses

Dominant: how to be successful and what happiness looks like

Local: individual vs collectivist family, slang, gender differences

What happens to the problem story (thickening description)?

narrative therapists add new strands of identity to the problem-saturated descriptions the clients enter therapy with, helping them create a more balanced, rich, and appreciative descriptions of events

Separating person from problem

Therapist meets the problem as separate from client, asking questions about problem and person separately

Role of narrative therapist

co-author, investigative reporter

Unique outcomes/sparking events

Stories or subplots in which the problem-saturated story does not play out in its typical way

Preferred Realities

Thoughtfully reflected goals that consider local knowledge rather than simply adopting the values of the dominant culture; counterplots to the problem saturated story

Externalizing

Conceptually and linguistically separating the person from the problem

Narrative Therapy goals

Enacting preferred realties and identities; reposition client as speaker/teller of their own story

Collaborative Therapy

Harlene Anderson and Harry Goolishian; Two-way dialogical process in which therapists and clients co-explore and co-create new and more useful understandings related to client problems and agency

Client as expert

the therapist's attention is focused on sincerely valuing clients' thoughts, ideas, and opinions

Outer talk

the verbal conversation between the therapy participants

Inner talk

the thoughts and conversations each person has within while participating in a conversation

"Appropriately unusual" comment

comments that clearly fit within the client's worldview while inviting curiosity and perhaps offering a new perspective that is easily digestible

Mutual puzzling

shared curiosity about client's life; the client is invited to "kick it around" and see what, if any, new ideas emerge and to follow where they lead

Being public

when therapists share their inner dialogue from a tentative stance

Reflecting teams

a small team of therapists observe the therapist talking with families behind a one-way mirror, then families listen to the team's conversation

Reflecting team guidelines

Only use with clients permission

Give client permission to listen or not

Talk from questioning and tentative perspective

Comment on all that you hear but not all that you see

Separate the team and the family

Listen for what is appropriately unusual

Ask: "How would you like to use this session today?"