Name of the Strategy or Intervention
Boundary Making in Couple and Family Therapy
Introduction
Boundaries are an inherent part of all families and couples. Boundaries determine which roles individuals and family subsystems (e.g., children or parents) play, expectations of each party, and responsibilities of family members. Boundaries can be classified as diffuse, clear, or rigid. For practitioners adhering to a systems theory approach, the goal in therapy is to help clients form clear boundaries that are not too diffuse or too rigid. The more a family or a couple strays from having clear boundaries, the more likely they are to experience dysfunction (Wetchler and Hecker 2015).
Theoretical Framework
According to Minuchin (1974), boundary making is the “basic principle” in systems theory and therefore crucial in the formation of healthy family systems. Within a family system, each subsystem (e.g., the marital subsystem or the child subsystem) has set boundaries that create separation...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Colapinto, J. (1991). Structural family therapy. In A. S. Gurman & D. P. Kniskern (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy (Vol. 2, pp. 417–443). New York: Routledge.
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families & family therapy. Oxford: Harvard University Press.
Minuchin, P. (1985). Families and individual development: Provocations from the field of family therapy. Child Development, 56(2), 289–302.
Minuchin, S., & Fishman, H. C. (1981). Family therapy techniques. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Minuchin, S., Reiter, M. D., & Borda, C. (2014). The craft of family therapy: Challenging certainties. New York: Routledge.
Wetchler, J. L., & Hecker, L. L. (Eds.). (2015). An introduction to marriage and family therapy (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
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
Scott, L., Julian, A., Tu, C. (2019). Boundary Making 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_313
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_313
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