Synonyms
Flow; Improvisation; Innovative; Play-oriented; Unique linkage
Introduction
Family therapy originated as a creative resistance to the existing dominant discourse of mental health in the early 1950s, which focused primarily on locating problems within the individual psyche. In family therapy’s cultural tales, the originators are often referred to as irreverential and creative. The rise of family therapy as a creative activity was a social process in and of itself.
Montuori (1992) states “evolving human systems are…creative human systems” (p. 193). The importance of creativity for meaningful living has been emphasized by a number of authors across traditions (Allman 1982; Gergen 2009; Keith 2014; Montuori 1992). Though from a modernist epistemological position, Allman (1982) states that “When we help the family see themselves as a system and teach them to play with their meanings, we open each member to his [sic] own poetry and twinke [sic]” (p. 43).
Postmodernists view...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allman, L. (1982). The aesthetic preference: Overcoming the pragmatic error. Family Process, 21(1), 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1982.00043.x.
Anderson, H. (1997). Conversation, language, and possibilities: A postmodern approach to therapy. New York: Basic Books.
Anderson, H. (2003). Some notes on listening, hearing and speaking and the relationship to dialogue. Paper presented at the Eighth Annual Open Dialogue Conference: What is Helpful in Treatment Dialogue? Tornio, Finland. Retrieved from http://harleneanderson.org/articles/newbatch/Dialogue-listeningspeakinghearing.pdf
Anderson, H., & Goolishian, H. (1988). Human systems as linguistic systems: Evolving ideas about the implications for theory and practice. Family Process, 27, 371–393.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. Austin: University of Texas Press. Kindle Edition.
Bauman, Z. (2007). Liquid times: Living in an age of uncertainty. Malden, MA: Polity Press. Kindle Edition.
Bava, S. (2016). Play-oriented pedagogy: Liberating emergence and uncertainty in couples and family therapy training. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Brown, S. (2010). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York: Avery, The Penguin Group.
Gergen, K. J. (1999). An invitation to social construction. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Gergen, K. (2009). Relational being: Beyond self and community. New York: Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. Retrieved from amazon.com
Hoffman, L. (1998). Setting aside the model in family therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 24(2), 145–156.
Imber-Black, E. (2014). Eschewing certainties the creation of family therapists in the 21st century. Family Process, 53, 371–379.
Keith, D. (2014). Continuing the experiential approach of Carl Whitaker. Phoenix: Zeig, Tucker & Thiesen. Kindle Edition. Retrieved from amazon.com
Levin, S., & Bava, S. (2012). Collaborative therapy: Performing reflective and dialogic relationships. In A. Lock & T. Strong (Eds.), Discursive perspectives in therapeutic practice (pp. 127–142). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McNamee, S. (2004). Therapy as social construction. In T. Strong & D. Pare (Eds.), Furthering talk: Advances in the discursive therapies. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.
Montuori, A. (1992). Creativity, chaos, and self-renewal in human systems. World Futures, 35, 193–209.
Montuori, A., & Purser, R. (2011). Social creativity: The challenge of complexity. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267834184
Pearce, B. (2007). Making social worlds: A communication perspective. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Poynton, R. (2008). Everything’s an offer: How to do more with less. Portland: On Your Feet.
Shotter, J. (2011). The dance of Rhetoric: Dialogic selves and spontaneously responsive expressions. In C. Meyer & F. Girke (Eds.), The rhetorical emergence of culture (pp. 37–51). New York/London: Berghahn Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Bava, S. (2019). Creativity in Couple and 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_226
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_226
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49423-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49425-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences