Lecture Notes on Systemic Practice

Vocabulary flashcards for review.

Systemic Practice

Psychotherapeutic methods focusing on systems

Individual Therapy

Focuses on the individual, diagnosis based on the DSM, and their internal processes.

Systemic Therapy

Explores family processes, relationships, and transgenerational meanings to change the context.

Fundamental premise of Family Therapy

People are the products of their context; the self is malleable and continuously shaped.

Systemic Thinking

As family dynamics change, so can individual identity and experience. Problems are viewed as resulting from interpersonal processes.

Complementarity

The reciprocity that defines every relationship; one person’s behavior is connected to another’s, and changes in one person can alter the relationship.

Circular Causality

Each family member affects and is affected by others, stressing interdependence of action in families.

Linear Causality

Explains behavior in terms of personality traits or past experiences, often looking for a starting point to determine responsibility.

Circular Explanation

Each partner's behavior is maintained by the actions of others, creating repetitive patterns.

Homeostatic Tendencies

Compel a system to remain the same once patterns are established; systems theory emphasizes stability.

Triads/Triangulations

Relationship problems often involve three people, where conflict detouring occurs through a third person's symptom to maintain balance.

Patterns of Behavior

Sequences of connections within and between people with behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects. Rigid patterns are less adaptable to change.

Process vs. Content

Family therapists focus on how people talk (process) rather than what they talk about (content) to help families become better functioning systems.

Family Structure

predictable family interactions embedded in unseen structures/subsystems. Problems arise when boundaries are too rigid or too diffuse .

Function of Symptoms

Symptoms may have a stabilizing influence on the family, alerting therapists to look beyond presenting complaints. (theory now discredited)

Beliefs and Punctuation

Beliefs are premises that families use to make sense of their world, influencing behavior. Punctuation refers to perceptions that produce repetitive patterns.

Family Life Cycle

A model of change and development where families face demands for change and adaptation, often associated with life cycle transitions.

Erosion of Boundaries

Boundaries between schools of family therapy have blurred, with a need for individualized techniques and paradigm shifts from postmodernism and feminist critique.

Postmodernism Influence

Shifted therapists from being experts who decode and reprogram families to a more collaborative approach.

Constructivism

Explores how families' beliefs and cultural forces shape their interactions, with therapy focusing on finding new perspectives.

Social Constructivism

Emphasizes the power of social interaction in generating meaning, where beliefs are fluid and fluctuate with social context.

Collaborative Practice

Therapists take a non-expert position, engaging both their expertise and the client’s expertise to dissolve the problem.

Family Narratives

Stories families tell about each other and their relationships shape their interactions, emphasizing certain events and filtering out others.

Gender Awareness

Effective therapists are aware of how gender issues pervade family life through beliefs and cultural expectations.

Cultural Sensitivity

Therapists should consider the unique subculture of the family, taking a one-down position to learn about their experience and traditions.

Genogram

A map of who you belong to, offering a basic picture of clients' backgrounds and relationships.

Functions of a Genogram

Gathering information, generating hypotheses, tracking changes, enhancing understanding of family dynamics, and organizing data.