Term
Founder of Structural Family therapy
Underpinnings |
|
Definition
Salvador Minuchin
● Action oriented approach that believes action precedes understanding. ● Believes that symptoms are a consequence of family transactional patterns and for those symptoms to change, the family structure must be reorganized. |
|
|
Term
| Theory of change for strucutral family therapy |
|
Definition
| Change occurs by remodeling the family’s organizational structure to include clear boundaries and a proper family hierarchy. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ● Active and involved (stage director) ● Work in collaboration with the family ● Joins with family by adapting to their style of interaction, including their affective range, mannerisms, and language. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the invisible set of functional demands that organizes the ways in which the family members interact. (Minuchin, 1974) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Subgroups based on gender, generation, and developmental tasks |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| This refers to how family members group together or relate to one another. They may include affiliations or splits from individuals or subsystems; they could be short-term or ongoing; however, they all develop for the purpose of maintaining homeostasis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Alignments where two or more family members join together to form a bond against another family member. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| How family partitions itself based on different needs and tasks. They consist of two or more members of the system based on common characteristics such as gender, generation, interests, or function |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| : Leadership and direction must be provided by adults, typically parents. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Boundaries: ○ Rigid/Inflexible: Boundaries are clearly defined and not open to change. Disengagement is caused by rigid/inflexible boundaries. ○ Diffuse: Boundaries are blurred and there is little sense of separateness within the family system. Enmeshment is caused by diffused boundaries. ○ Clear: Balance between separateness (I) and belonging (we) in the family system. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A diagram, developed and used by the therapist outside of the therapeutic session, to identify boundaries, structures, and relationships within the family system. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A diagram, developed and used by the therapist outside of the therapeutic session, to identify boundaries, structures, and relationships within the family system. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| When two or more individuals function as a team and recognize that they depend on each other to achieve particular tasks. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The therapist tracks the family’s style of communication and behaviors, and then copies (mimics) it in order to be accepted by the family |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Therapist gains temporary acceptance into the family by engaging with individual members and subsystems. This process allows the therapist to eventually disrupt and alter dysfunctional aspects of the system |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A technique used by the therapist that redefines the original interpretation of an issue and offers a new, more constructive perspective. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An intervention that encourages the family to act out a relationship dynamic during the therapeutic session. Provides the therapist an opportunity to observe dysfunctional aspects of the system that can eventually be restructured. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The therapist pays close attention to family members and how they relate to one another during an enactment or spontaneous behavioral sequence. ○ Notice boundaries, coalitions, roles, rules, etc. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Supporting someone who is in a one-down position with the goal of altering their hierarchical position. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Help the family understand how family structure (relationships and hierarchies) can be changed. ● Help create clear and healthier boundaries. ● Strengthen the spousal subsystem and the family’s hierarchy. ● Restructure the family system to allow for symptom relief and constructive problem solving. ● Alter dysfunctional transactional patterns |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ● Acts like a “distant relative” through the process of joining with the family. ● Deliberately increases the level of stress through the use of enactments. ● Observes the interactions during enactments and spontaneous behavioral sequences. ● Reframes presenting symptoms as responses to the family structure. ● Disrupts dysfunctional patterns of communication and replaces them with more functional interactions. ● Reinforces healthy boundaries and disrupts unhealthy ones through boundary making. ● Challenges the family’s rules that continue to exist even though they are no longer of use. ● Explores how new patterns of interaction can be integrated into the family. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Beginning: Joining and accommodating; assess family interactions through use of family mapping; learn about coalitions, subsystems, alliances; reframe presenting problem as a function of the system. Early/Middle: Highlight and modify interactions; utilize enactments of issues to challenge participants and unbalance system End: Review progress made; reinforce structural change; provide tools for future |
|
|
