Uses/Benefits of Individual/Family/Group Modalities. + Corrective Emotional Experiences+ History of family therapy

1.Uses/Benefits of Individual/Family/Group Modalities

Therapy Modalities

• Different modalities require different skills. There are similar skills to intervene, however it is important that therapists are trained in these different modalities

Individual Therapy 

• importance of the client-therapist relationship 

• Focus on client’s own personal development Individual therapist assert that although family plays an important role, indv. 

• Therapy provides privacy for the client to explore/reflect on their own issues

Couples Therapy:

•  Focus on improving communication patterns and/or relationship functioning with in the couple

• Couples therapist essentially joins in with the couple, couples share their behaviors, habits etc with therapist 

Family Therapy: 

• Family therapists believe that the dominant forces in our lives are found within the family

• Change must occur at the family level, addressing the problem at the source

• Making a change in the family system will make a change in the family member

• Family is a type of group in which members have a shared history/past

Group Therapy:

• Importance of the group members’ interactions which can affect change

• Recreates a social microcosm which can reflect real life for a member

• Provides a safe space for members to explore & gain insights thru interactions w/ group members & therapist

• Unlike family therapy, members do not have a shared history or past

2. Corrective Emotional Experiences

Corrective Emotional Experiences 

• Different therapy modalities (individual, family, group) can allow for Corrective Emotional Experiences 

• An experience in the therapy relationship in which the client is able to repair past traumas, patterns, conflicts of previous relationships 

• Transference can facilitate this experience; the client can experience a different response to their expectations.

• A client who was berated for expressing emotions learns through the therapeutic relationship that there is a new ending (the therapist praises the expression). The expectation is contradictory to reality.

 • Includes cognitive, behavioral & emotional changes

3. History of family therapy

History of Family Therapy 

• Freud & Psychoanalysis: The Father of “the talking cure” & highly influential in the psychotherapy field 

• He believed that therapy was an individualistic endeavor 

• Patients needed privacy & confidentiality in order to be open to exploring their problems 

• Rogers & Patient Centered Therapy: Self Actualization-each person has a drive towards fulfilling their potential. This is derailed by our desire for approval from others, thus leading to psychological problems.

 • Individual therapy is used to help patients uncover their real feelings & unlock their drive towards self actualization 

• Thus family therapy was not a modality to help patients with self actualization 

History of Family History Con’t 

• 1940’s & 50’s: Growth of child guidance clinics-developed to help children have more healthy well-being--soon came to see that it isn’t just a child’s symptoms but other forces acting upon the child. 

• Focused on the mother as the cause of problems 

• Studies of schizophrenia, led to belief that parents, primarily the mother led to development of schizophrenia 

• Influence of Systems Theory (Bertalanffy): applying systems theory to the family-interconnected part 

• Bateson: studied the nature of communications in the family- Schizophrenia Project- asserted that a patient isn’t crazy, they are an extension of a crazy family environment Family Therapy Pioneers 

• Several Family Therapy pioneers & influencers came out of the 60’s & 70’s 

• Similarities in beliefs about the importance & influence of the family on an individual and the benefits of family therapy in addressing problems 

• Differences in ideas about how the family influences the individual & how to address problems within the family 

• John Bell, Nathan Ackerman, Murray Bowen, Jay Haley, Virginia Satir & Salvador Minuchin

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