Name of Model
Contextual therapy
Synonyms
Contextual family therapy
Introduction
Contextual therapy was founded by one of the pioneers of family therapy, Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy (1987, first print 1979). It evolved out of intergenerational family therapy, which he had developed with his early associates, and from his seminal work on family loyalties (Boszormenyi-Nagy and Spark 1984, first print 1973). Contextual therapy is based on the postulate that fairness and loyalty play a major role in intergenerational family dynamics. It proposes that relational ethics, an ethics based on mutual respect and reciprocity, not on preexisting moral values, is a core determinant of close relationships.
Based on clinical observations, contextual therapists postulate that relational injustices and distributive injustices, which are the result of adverse circumstances, can have an impact on individuals and on families that may affect multiple generations. Conversely, they believe that fair giving and...
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References
Boszormenyi-Nagy, I. (2002). Foreword. In F. Kaslow (Ed.), comprehensive handbook of psychotherapy (Vol. III, pp. xi–xii). New York: Wiley.
Boszormenyi-Nagy, I. (1987). Foundations of contextual therapy: Collected papers of Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, M.D. New York: Routledge.
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Boszormenyi Nagy, I., & Spark, G. (1984). Invisible loyalties. New York: Routledge. [First print 1973].
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Boszormenyi-Nagy, I. (2000, April 13). General address in the plenary of the annual conference of the Hungarian Family Therapy Association. Szeged.
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Note: A full multilingual bibliography on the work of Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy and on contextual therapy with over a thousand entries has been established by Ilse Siebesma-Niewöhner and is available at http://www.icbnederland.nl.
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Ducommun-Nagy, C. (2019). Contextual 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_361
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_361
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