Ch 7 Multigenerational & Psychoanalytic Family Therapies

Differentiation

The ability to separate thoughts from feelings internally and maintain a clear sense of self while remaining emotionally connected to others

Genogram

A multigenerational family mapping tool used to assess patterns relationships and emotional processes across generations

Chronic Anxiety

A persistent automatic emotional and physiological response to stress that is not mediated by rational thinking

Triangles

A relational process where a third person or activity is brought into a dyad to reduce tension and stabilize the relationship

Emotional Cutoff

Managing relational anxiety by distancing or severing emotional or physical contact typically with family members

Multigenerational Transmission Process

The process through which patterns of emotional functioning and levels of differentiation are passed down across generations

Family Projection Process

A process in which parents transmit their anxiety and emotional issues onto a child who then carries those symptoms

Nonanxious Presence

A therapeutic stance characterized by emotional engagement without reactivity used to model differentiation and regulate the system

Relational Ethics

A family system of fairness accountability and loyalty where entitlements and obligations are balanced across relationships

Invisible Loyalties

Unconscious obligations to family of origin that influence current relationships and behaviors

Revolving Slate

A destructive relational pattern where unresolved injustices from one relationship are acted out in another

Split Loyalties

A dynamic in which a child feels pressured to choose between caregivers due to conflict or mistrust between them

Holding Environment

A therapeutic space that provides emotional safety support and containment for exploration and growth

Multidirected Partiality

A therapeutic stance of fairness and empathy toward all family members including those not present

Splitting

A defense mechanism in which people or situations are viewed in extreme all good or all bad terms to manage anxiety

Projective Identification

A defense process where a person projects unwanted feelings onto another and induces that person to behave in accordance with those projections

Parental Introjects

Internalized representations of parental attitudes or traits that influence an individual's thoughts feelings and relationships