Unnuchin Structured Family Therapy Easily Organized: Boundaries, Sub-systems, Joining and Demonstration Techniques

"Mom and daughter are always together, but Dad is alone." When you see a family like this, who is the problem? Salvador Minuchin's structured family therapy looks at how families are woven rather than specific people. Since it is the core theory of family welfare theory and family therapy subjects, we have summarized the concepts and techniques.

Basic Thoughts of Structured Family Therapy

Minuchin saw his family as a system that operated by invisible rules. Families are frameworks of recurring interactions, such as who is close to whom, who decides, and who is marginalized. Symptomatic members are a sign that the family structure is not functioning properly, and the change in structure reduces the symptoms.

In the end, family problems affect households and everyday life. Often, parental conflicts can lead to a child's school misadaptation or counseling costs, so the local family center or welfare center's family counseling program is funded by public assistance.

Sub-systems and boundaries

Families consist of several sub-systems, such as the couple sub-system, parent sub-system, sibling sub-system, and parent-child sub-system. There are boundaries between sub-systems that define who participates and how far they participate.

Also, the hierarchy in which parents have more decision-making power than children should be clear. A problem structure is a union where one parent works hand-in-hand with the child to confront the other parent, or a triangle relationship where the child is drawn into a couple's conflict.

인용한 문장 옆에 쪽수까지 적어 두니까 나중에 다시 확인하기가 편하더라고요. 자주 쓰는 책은 서지 정보를 한곳에 모아 두면 편한 것 같아요.

Treatment Techniques

The therapist first joins to gain trust by matching the tone and mood of the family. Then, in the consultation room, create an opportunity to observe and change the structure with a demonstration that allows the family to show the conflict scene in person as usual. We create boundaries between close mothers and daughters, change places for couples to decide together, re-naming (reconstructing) the problem to see it in a different light, and use an imbalance technique that takes one side to break the balance. Because these interventions typically span multiple sessions, the agency considers counseling during the evening and funding per session for the entire family to come together.

Difference from other family therapies

If Bowen's theory of the family system focuses on generational emotional convergence and self-differentiation, Structured Family Therapy focuses on changing the family structure and interactions here and now. The concept comparison is good to see with the Bowen Family System Theory document. It is also characterized by the active intervention of the therapist.

Organize and reference assignments

In the assignment, it → is neat to write in the order of applying basic assumption sub-system → boundaries and hierarchy → technique → examples. Campus-style structured family therapy data, which summarizes the structured family therapy theory and the sub-system of couples, parents, siblings, parents, and children on page 4, can be helpful for those who want to organize sub-system concepts in family therapy or family welfare theory tasks.

Related Wiki: Milan School System Therapy

Related Wiki: Strategic Family Therapy