Sculpting in Couple and Family Therapy

Synonyms

Spatialization

Introduction/Theoretical Framework

Sculpting is an experiential therapy intervention created by Duhl et al. (1973). They wanted to find a way to explore family and couple interactions in physical and sensory ways rather than solely through the use of language (Papp et al. 2013). Virgina Satir (1972) was also a pioneer in the development of expressive techniques for dealing with families and had some influence in the development of sculpting. Sculpting has also been referred to as a gestalt technique (Hearn and Lawrence 1981a, b). Although popular in the early days of the family therapy movement, today sculpting is not often incorporated into contemporary family therapy models.

Rational for the Intervention

In traditional family sculpting, one member of the family at a time is asked to physically arrange the family members in relationship to one another. This enables family members to show how they experience their relationships relative to one another. One...