A little historical background
Donald Winnicott (1896-1971) contributed many concepts to modern psychotherapy, one important contribution is that there is no such thing as a child on their own. There can only be mother (care giver) and child. A child that is left on its own would simply not survive, therefore everyone we come into contact with has had a care giver that has shaped them in some way or other in order for them to arrive to where they are now. So now we are not only considering client and perhaps clients care giver but the dynamic between them healthy or not.
The seeds for family perspective theory began to take hold in the early 1940s (Corey, 2017) in North America but it was in the 1950s that the practice began to take root. During the 1970-80 psychodynamic, behavioral, and humanistic approaches called the first, second, and third force, respectively and were predominant in psychotherapy. Today a paradigm shift from these various approaches to family systems has given it the label of the 4th force. The family system’s perspective suggests that individuals may be understood by assessing their interactions among and between family members (Corey, 2017).
We are all born into family systems and we spend most of our lives connected with one sort of family or another. Here we develop, we change, we receive and give support, and operate with in rules, routines and habits that we hope will maintain the family’s functionality.
This begins the difference between the individual therapeutic and systematic therapeutic approaches to therapy.
- Individual approaches will be concerned with the clients diagnoses, works with clients coping mechanism and considers the clients experiences and perspectives.
2(a) A Systematic approach may focus on family relationships and contextualizing culture and influencing factors of the family system and the effect on the client.
2(b) Or may consider the clients genogram history McGoldrick, M. Gerson, R, Petry, S. (2020).
Virginia Satir let us begin with 2a and the work of
Principal theoretical concepts from Virginia Satir (1916-1988)
“Satir often begins her theoretical base from the moment of union, one sperm and one egg. This begins the dynamic balance of constancy and change ”
Banmen J.(1986)
The cells begin to double and double and double and through multitudes of changes each cell has its own constancy a genetic characteristic and guides its own function in that system. At birth the baby is born, and change continues at a rapid pace the baby has now entered a new world of systems where it is now an agent and a manifestation for change. It impacts and changes the family it is born into. As the child changes so to must the family system around it. Babies both effect and are affected by the family around it. How the family evolves and accommodates this can be a beautiful symphony or a desperate struggle which Satir suggests often develops into a dysfunctional family system. Satir et al.(1991) agues that low self-esteem and that personal dynamics around low self-esteem effects the entire family system.
Satir in the new peoplemaking (1988) assessed from working with different families that certain traits presented themselves in families systems these she noted in the book could suggest certain dynamics that were going to present when a set of criteria were present.
Every family has different combinations of the 4 following headings
- Self-worth ……………. The feelings and ideas one has about oneself,
- Communication ………The ways people use to work out meaning with one another.
- Family system………….The rules people use for how they should feel and act.
- Link to society ……….. The way people relate to other people and institutions outside the family.
In the troubled (dysfunctional) family system there is a correlation between fundamental core criteria and what is actually happening:
Every person has a feeling of worth, positive or negative; the question is, which is it?
Every person communicates; the question is, How, and what happens as a result? Is communication indirect, vague, and not really honest.
Every person follows rules; the question is, what kind, and how well do they work for us? Are rules rigid, inhuman, non-negotiable, and everlasting.
Every person is linked to society; the question is, In what way, and what are the results? Is the family’s link to society fearful, placating, and blaming.
Lets look at these under a different heading
Self-esteem and self-worth
Up until the age of 5 self-worth and self-esteem is created almost entirely by the home family (Satir 1988) but after this school and the outside world will have an effect but this will be mainly reenforced by what has already been learnt, here Satir suggests that parents with high esteem will develop nurturing families. Likewise children who exposed to inflexible rules crooked communication etc. are at risk of developing destructive behavior towards themselves and others
Communication when one has low self worth it maybe easier to use other peoples actions and reaction to present oneself. Satir suggests these 4 ways of individuals use for handling stress in this way
- ………….. to avoid the other getting mad
- …………….so the other will regard you as strong
- …………..hiding behind big words and intellectual concepts
- ……………ignoring the threat ….hopefully it will go away
To this point Banmen, J. (1986) suggests these coping mechanisms originate from low self esteem however leveling maybe considered a more congruent coping communication
Leveling – a congruent communication which helps covey truth at that moment
Rules have a lot to do with what we should and should not do. Who makes the rules? Are they out of date, are they understood? Are they flexible? Are they limiting or facilitating? Where did they come from? And then comes unwritten rules that govern freedom of comment these in turn sub-dived to 4 pointers regarding rules
- What can you say about what you are seeing or hearing ?
- Whom can I say it to ?
- How do you go about disagreeing with someone ?
- How do you question when you don’t understand ?
And then there are the rules when certain subjects should not be mentioned …”your uncle is in jail”
Satir suggests that children who grow up but are forbidden to question see themselves as saints or devils later in life, instead of a breathing human being who feel.
And finally, the link with society
“It is now clear to me that the family is a microcosm of the world. To understand the world, we can study the family: issues such as power, intimacy, autonomy, trust, and communication skills are vital parts underlying how we live in the world. To change the world is to change the family.”
Satir p7 (1988)
Families and society are smaller and larger models of one another. Initially Satir suggests that all teaching was done at home for the basic elements of living. As the knowledge pool grew, children began to go out to school where another dynamic came into play. Let’s take for example” sex education”, parents say they may be the best to educated their children in this field yet when kids go to school then a new version of the information may be conveyed to them which may not be in alignment with the parents understanding. And so, what is to be done and which is in effect the best way forward. Satir suggests that coming from a position of a right and a wrong way off doing things is limiting, there is not just one way of doing things and in society (as in the family) tolerance understand communication flexibility help people to form fulfilling societal environments.
To finish this short discourse on family structures and systems, it is worth considering that the family is an ever-changing system. It starts with a couple then there is a child a second and then a third and a dog!! So, where there once was two there is now six. As the years go by the power shift between parents and children change as parents get older and children begin to make the decisions. Being able to adapt to the system change is an important concept without the loss of dignity as our parents are always our parents and deserves our respect and yet we need to be flexible as they move into their twilight years and the consequences that has on all members of the family.
References
Corey, G; (2017) Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 10ed, Boston ISBN: 978-1-305-26372-7
McGoldrick, M. Gerson, R . Petry S. (2020) Genograms Assessment and treatment 4th ed New York , W.W. Norton & Company,
Satir, V, Banmen J. Gerber, J. and Gomori, M. (1991)The Satir model family therapy and beyond since and behavior books inc.California
Satir V (1988) The New Peoplemaking, Science and Behavior Books, California
