Structural Family Therapy Essay Example for Free

Structural Family Therapy Essay | Structural family therapy is a model of treatment based on systems theory that was developed by Salvador Minuchin. Structural family therapy features emphasis is mostly on structural change as the main goal of therapy; it pays close attention to the individual but also acknowledges the importance of family in the healing process of the individual. Structural family therapy focuses on encouraging proactive healthy change within the family, with an emphasis on structure, subsystems, and boundaries. Family Structure is invisible set of rules that organize the ways family members relate to each other. Structure resists change. The therapist will essentially be a change agent to facilitate this reorganization (Minuchin, 1974). In addition to this, the therapist must be sensitive to the multicultural perspectives within a family during counseling. Including, cultural values, mores, beliefs, practices, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, level of acculturation, customs, mannerisms, special needs, behavioral expectations and expressions, and socioeconomic status. The families’ ability to access sociopolitical systems must also be taken into consideration. Too often those from impoverished families are not able to access sociopolitical systems, such as therapy, when in need. When considering the impoverished, Waldegrave (2009) stated: Very few countries have been able to devise policy responses that adequately overcome the disadvantages single-parent households’ experience. They usually lack money and support to relieve their ongoing parental roles, and workplaces can be insensitive to the flexibility they require when children are sick or they are simply exhausted. They are often stigmatized by others for being single parents. When they arrive at counseling centers or other service providers, it is very important to recognize and address the contextual factors in their lives and avoid working on the symptoms of their distress out of context. (Waldegrave p. 10) Whether the members recognize it or not, every family has its own structure that is greatly influenced by cultural beliefs. One goal for the therapist is to determine what the structure is, and then decide whether it is problematic for the family or not. According to Minuchin (1974), â€Å"Family structure is the invisible set of functional demands that organizes the ways in which family members interact† (Minuchin p. 51). Additionally, Gladding (2007) suggested: In some families, structure is well organized in a hierarchical pattern and members easily Relate to one another. In other, there is little structure and few arrangements are provided by which family members can easily and meaningfully interact (Gladding p. 203). The essence of family structure is greatly influenced by culture; it defines the role of men and women, children, and it also create cross-generational influences unique to every family. In using this example of Asian American families, Brooks (2008) suggested: Families are organized with fathers as the figures in control and the mothers are subordinate to them. Mothers, however, take compete charge of the children, and so from a child’s point of view, mothers appear to be authority figures as well. Children are obligated to respect and obey these authoritative figures. (p. 103) Bowen theory is not about families, but more about life. Bowen emphasized that humans have more in common with other forms of protoplasm, and that traditional social science to emphasize differences have, increased our denial about what really makes us tick (Friedman p. 135). Murray Bowen was one of the original developers of mainstream family therapy. His approach is often referred to as Multigenerational (transgenerational or intergenerational) Family Therapy. His approach is more theory based than any other model we will consider. For Bowen, effective clinical practice followed from an effective theoretical orientation. Bowen and his associates introduced much of the mainstream language for family systems therapy, including concepts and clinical practice related to multigenerational assessment, family life-cycle development, ordinal birth position, genograms, triangles and triangulation, emotional cutoff, and differentiation of self: All of these ideas will be addressed below. Bowen began his training in a psychoanalytic model, and some of his ideas can be traced to that background. In fairness, Bowen would have seen his approach as a departure from psychoanalytic therapy. His approach operates on the premise that a family can best be understood when it is analyzed from at least a three-generation perspective, because a predictable pattern of interpersonal relationships connects the functioning of family members across generations. According to Bowen, the cause of an individuals problems can be understood only by viewing the role of the family as an emotional unit. A basic assumption in Bowen family therapy is that unresolved emotional fusion (or attachment) to ones family must be addressed if one hopes to achieve a mature and unique personality. Structural family therapy pays close attention to the roles family members play in the construction of a family and multigenerational pays attention to how the relationships affect each other. I connect closely with multigenerational family therapy and how it pays close attention to parents bringing children into their relationship and children including themselves to try to lower stress. Growing up in a somewhat dysfunctional family I lived this first hand, my parents constantly included me into their arguments, growing up I knew too much of my parents problems. This theory pays close attention to the harm in doing so.