Virgina Satir: The Human Process Model

Congruence

identifying contradictions between these layers, such as taking actions one does not ultimately believe in

Behavior Congruence

The behavior on the surface; the external manifestation of the person’s inner world

Coping Congruence

Defenses and survival stances: placating, blaming, superreasonable, and irrelevant; these come out in times of stress, and a person may use different stances in different relational contexts

Feelings Congruence

Present feelings that are strongly past based, using past events to interpret the present. Contemporary practitioners also ask about a person’s feelings about their feelings, which invites clients to relate to their feelings differently.

Perceptions Congruence

Beliefs, attitudes, and values that inform one’s sense of self; most people form their perceptions when very young, and they are based on a limited view of reality.

Expectations Congruence

A strong belief about how life should go, how people should behave, and how one should perform; most people form their expectations when young, and they are often unrealistic and/or may not apply to a particular situation.

Yearnings Congruence

Universal longings to be loved, accepted, validated, and confirmed

Survival Stances

minimizes one or more essential parts of the total picture

Placating Stance

• make a connection with those using placating through their feelings, to which they are closely attuned

• therapists use less directive therapy methods, such as multiple-choice questions and open-ended reflections, to require them to voice their opinion and take a stand

Blaming Stance

• can best connect with those who blame by addressing their expectations

• often is to increase blamers’ awareness of others’ thoughts and feelings and help them learn how to communicate their personal perspectives in ways that are respectful of others.

Superreasonable Stance

• logic and rules reign supreme

• clients tend to avoid all emotions, therapists might best engage them by starting with their bodily reactions and expectations before moving onto feelings

Irrelevant Stance

• creates a unique challenge for therapists because there is no consistent grounding in self, other, or context for the therapist to use in understanding and communicating with the client

• therapist must spend time “floating” along with the client’s distractions to identify the unique “anchors” of the client’s reality that the therapist can tap into

• Progress is typically slower with those who use this stance frequently.

Family Life Chronology

• Births and deaths 

• Important family events: marriages, moves, tragedies, major illnesses, job loss 

• Important historical events: wars, natural disasters, economic downturns

Survival Triad

the child, mother, and father—and the quality of the relationship between all three

Self-worth and Self-esteem

• it is more useful to consider the specific aspects of the self that a client values and the aspects of which they are ashamed. 

• The best indicator of health, self-compassion is one’s ability to accept strengths and weaknesses in oneself and others

Mind-body connection

how emotional issues may manifest in the body, either symbolically or functionally

Congruent communication

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

Ingredients of an interaction

details the internal communication process and can be used to teach clients about internal and relational processes

Family Sculpting

involves putting family members in physical positions that represent how the “sculptor” sees each person’s role in the family

Family Reconstruction

allow clients to explore unresolved family issues and life events in the safety of the group setting

Parts Party

client identifying group members to represent aspects of the self