This includes indirect communication or “beating around the bush”, double bind, or even uncertainty in verbal and non verbal communication and how it is perceived. – Pathological communication contributes to relationship problems: unclear or confusing communication causes problems in relationships. Challenging the system “suggests a search for new patterns … The old order must be undermined, to allow for the formation of the new.” (Minuchin, 1981, Family Therapy Techniques, p. Any change a family experiences gives an opportunity to embrace or reject change. Sometimes the family system needs to embrace change and sometimes it needs to promote constancy. There needs to be an equal amount of constancy and change for a family to adapt to any situation in life. Family members often respond with negative feedback loops with corrective measures to get the member back in line. If family members respond with positive feedback loops, there is encouragement to break away from the current homeostasis. When someone or something “challenges the system” or current set of rules that the family lives by, family members may respond with negative feedback loops to reject the change and encourage things to stay the same. Negative feedback loops promote constancy. – Feedback loops guide behavior: To maintain order, balance, and homeostasis in a family, negative and positive feedback loops occur to promote change or constancy. The therapist may choose to intervene at a certain point in the process where he/she believes there is greater opportunity for change. Abuse is not the only redundant behavior, other behaviors could include who controls the TV remote, who sits where at the dinner table, or opens presents first at Christmas, etc. When a redundant behavior occurs, like physical abuse, the entire process is dwelt with, not just the abuser or the abused person is analyzed. These rules guide how a family lives and functions. Often a few rules are selected (intentionally or unintentionally) and are used over and over again. – Rules result from the redundancy principle and are critical in defining a family: rules are created in a relationship as soon as a couple comes together or a family is formed. We has humans tend to think linearly although behavior is circular, which means things are not what we think on the surface. Circular causality recognizes many different forces effecting one another. – Circular causality guides behavior: Linear causality focuses on one event causing another. Instead a systems theorists will attempt to break the current chains of interactions that maintain the symptoms. Trying to blame a problem on one person or trace a conflict to the beginning is a waste of time. – The locus of pathology (location of the problem) is not within the person but is a system dysfunction: Instead of saying an individual is the problem we say the system is dysfunctional. They should be viewed as a unit instead of separate individuals. – The whole is greater than the sum of the parts: “Who a family is with each other is different than who they might be with someone else.” Family members influence each other and are connected. Families are too complicated for linear causality and we find there is more under the surface than we first realize. I also love how it challenges our mindset of linear thinking that one behavior, reaction, or occurrence leads to another. This stops members from pointing fingers and blaming one another when there is a reoccurring problem which I believe encourages cooperation. I especially love that the focus is on the entire family as a system instead of of individuals. I love the assumptions that make up this theory and feel it can be applied to many family problems. This has been one of my most favorite theories to learn about.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |