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Time in Family and Couple Therapy

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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy
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Introduction

All behavior – human or otherwise – in fact, everything in the universe, the movement of the planets, the life and death of the stars, the seasons, our heartbeats, and the smooth coordination of our bodily systems, occurs in time. Systems theories and practices, whether focused on mechanical, biological, or human behavioral systems, seek to discern patterns of growth and movement among their elements and, when those patterns are dysfunctional, seek to change those patterns. There are no patterns more basic than temporal patterns. In couples and families, struggles around such common presenting problems as money, housework and homework, in-laws, amount of energy dedicated to work versus personal life, preferred leisure activities, communication, sex, and religion, all have a “time side” to them. Most dyssynchronies in time operate out of awareness and drive seemingly unresolvable issues: Differences in time perspective (focusing mostly on the future versus on the present,...

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Fraenkel, P. (2019). Time in Family and Couple 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_954

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