Term
| Brief Couple Structural Therapy |
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Definition
- deals with the dynamics between partners
- also with the boundaries around and between them
- an energetic interventionist approach to helping couples realize that they create
- can change each other's behavior by their own actions
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Term
| 1. Consider the whole Family System in the Evaluation |
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Definition
- in 1st tx stage, have 2 sessions with the family
- avoid meeting with 1 partner prior to meeting the other, it may yield biased or incomplete info
- may induct the clr into a 1-sided view of family problems
- may create the reality or illusion of an unbalanced alliance
- may undermine the missing partner's motivation to participate in tx
- he or she may get the idea that the therapy is about helping the other's partner get more of what he/she wants from him
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Term
| 2. Build an Alliance of understanding with each Family Member |
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Definition
- at 1st, clr to offer empathy to each family member by allowing them to express their account of the family problem(s)
- begins the process of releasing partners from resentment that unheard feelings breads
- Joining an empathic connection opens the way for partners to begin listening to each other
- and establish a bond with the clr that aids them to accept any future challenges
- ex. clr states I don't follow, tell me more about that
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Term
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Definition
- use of enactment - clr ask the partner to respond to something specific the other said
- ex. She says you never want to spend time with her, can you respond to that?
- 1st session or 2nd session, enactment are use to discover what goes wrong when couples try talking to each other
- clr has to keep his distance and allow the dialogue; he should interfere as little as possible
- despite language conversation remains functional as long as they keep talking
- in f/u sessions, enactments are purely therapeutic
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Term
| 4. Make a Structural Assessment of how Boundaries and Subsystems are organized in a way that supports the presenting problem. |
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Definition
- treating a couple without taking account of the rest of the family is as myopic as treating individuals in isolation
- clr who attempts to breach a couple's engagement w/o considering competing attachments will have a difficult time
- couple who come to therapy are more alienated from each other and more enmeshed with other interests and attachments
- what stands between 2 people who are disengaged is unresolved conflict
- a structural perspective - 1st draw a boundary around the couple - 2nd then push then to address the conflicts, overt and covert between them
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Term
| The Case for an Intervenionist Therapy |
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Definition
- Anderson and Goolishan called for a more collaborative style and urged clrs to step down from the stance of expert and engage in respectful conversation with clts
- the narrative approach emphasized cognition over action and by defining problems as external to families
- has moved away from the notion that family conflicts lie at the root of many difficulties that bring people to therapy
- the aim is to challenge families bluntly enough to push them past habit and avoidance but sympathetically enough for them to accept the challenge
- fear of change is the real enemy-families are rigidly organized and their members afraid to risk change
- to be interventive, clr has to remain central, handle the flow of conversations, encourage family members to face and speak to each other, face their conflicts, and face their own role in the problems.
- in order to transform the clts, clrs has to gauge his interactions with the family; some talking and acknowledge the level the couple are embedded
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Term
| 5. Develop a Structural Focus for Brief Therapy |
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Definition
- Having drawn a boundary around the couple's relationship, I was going to push them to face each other and face things they found it easier not to talk about.
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Term
| 6. Highlight and Focus on Problematic Interactions |
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Definition
- Have the couple talk about their dissatisfaction - heart of their conflict and puts it between them where it belongs
- by returning repeatedly to such key dialogues, clr can challenge both parties to face their own contributions to unhappy interactions
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Term
| 7. Push Interactions beyond their usual Homeostatic cutoffs |
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Definition
- what keeps families from resolving their problems isn't so much not knowing what to do but, rather, not doing it forcefully or consistently enough.
- successful change requires pushing past the point where family members are tempted to break off and revert back to the same old patterns
- clr is stimulating the couple to change their perceptions of each other and allow Jeff to be a child
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Term
| 8. Promote Empathy to help Stuck Dyads get past Defensive Wrangling |
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Definition
- when the couple can't get thru to each other, their conversations consists of accusations and counterattacks, the clr can interrupt to block these unproductive discussions by talking to the partners one at a time about what they are really feeling and what they want from each other.
- through use of empathic listening and intervening, clr can help partners connect at a more genuine level
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Term
| A Search for Alternatives |
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Definition
- becoming realistic about the difficulties and responsibilities of marriage and distinguishing it from uncomplicated romantic love .
- successful partners learn to accept their differences and realize that while they may not be compatible in some ways, they will be in others.
- ex. couple have to find something they both like to do
- selective union -instead of drifting apart emotionally or insulating themselves from each other, they find other things to share
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Term
| 9. Challenge Family Members to Accept Responsibility for their behavior |
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Definition
- Structural therapy is about challenging people to change not telling them what to do
- when pressured, the partners will resist most of the time
- the most effective confrontations point out what people are doing wrong- but add no pressure to change
- to disarm resistance: clr has to resist telling the partner what to do
- or to discuss other people's reactions than continuing to confront the person
- some issues are private; boundary making is better achieved by not excluding others from the clg room but have them present to explore and challenge cross-generational coalitions
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