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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 2820–2828Cite as

Structural Family Therapy

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Introduction

Structural Family Therapy is a method for understanding and treating behavioral problems within the context of the family. Its characteristic features are an emphasis on interactional context as the organizer of individual behaviors, the central role assigned to the family as the protagonist of therapy, and the reliance on “making change happen” in the therapy room.

Prominent Associated Figures

SFT is the brainchild of Dr. Salvador Minuchin. He recognized Braulio Montalvo as his “most influential teacher” (Minuchin 1974, p. iv). Other authors associated with the model are Harry Aponte, Jorge Colapinto, Charles Fishman, Jay Lappin, Patricia Minuchin, Michael Nichols, George Simon, and Wai-Yung lee.

Theoretical Framework

Core Concepts

Structural Family Therapy poses that individual behaviors are shaped by the relational contextwithin which they occur. If a father screams at her son, the structural therapist wants to know what is happening between and around them. What is...

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References

  • Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Minuchin, S., & Fishman, H. C. (1981). Family therapy techniques. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Minuchin, S., Montalvo, B., Guerney, B. G., Rosman, B. L., & Schumer, F. (1967). Families of the slums. New York: Basic Books.

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  • Minuchin, S., Rosman, B. L., & Baker, L. (1978). Psychosomatic families: Anorexia nervosa in context. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Minuchin, P., Colapinto, J., & Minuchin, S. (2007). Working with families of the poor. New York: Guilford.

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  • Stanton, M. D., & Todd, T. C. (1982). Family therapy of drug abuse and addiction. New York: Guilford.

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  • Szapocznik, J., Schwartz, S. J., Muir, J. A., & Hendricks Brown, C. (2012). Brief strategic family therapy: An intervention to reduce adolescent risk behavior. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 1(2), 134–145.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Minuchin Center for the Family, Woodbury, NJ, USA

    Jorge Colapinto

Authors
  1. Jorge Colapinto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jorge Colapinto .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony L. Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Iowa City, IA, USA

    David Kearns

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Bahareh Sahebi

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Colapinto, J. (2019). Structural Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_334

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