Introduction
In Structural Family Therapy (SFT), challenge designates the therapist’s questioning of the family’s individualistic certainties creating a relational understanding about the symptom and the transformative possibilities of enhanced individual and family functioning.
Theoretical Framework
In Structural Family Therapy, the therapist’s goal is to cocreate a context that expands the relational rules that bind the narrow certainty of the symptom’s location from occurring “in” the Identified Patient (IP) to what happens between them – the context of the family’s relational patterns. Through restructuring relationships, family members can experience different aspects of themselves and others – a liberation of possibility and growth. It is saying, “The concept of what you think about yourself is partial. Your certainty about ‘this is who you are’ is wrong, but it is wrong because you are richer.” (Minuchin and Lappin 2011, p. 29*).
Rationale
Change is hard, uncertain, and...
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References
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Minuchin, S., & Fishman, H. C. (1981). Family therapy techniques. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Minuchin, S., & Lappin, J. (2011). Salvador Minuchin: On family therapy. www.Psychotherapy.net, V. Yalom, Producer. A. Miller, Instructor’s manual.
Minuchin, S., Rosman, B. L., & Baker, L. (1978). Psychosomatic families: Anorexia nervosa in context. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Minuchin, S., Reiter, M. D., & Borda, C. Contributions from: Walker, S. A., Pascale, R., & Reynolds, T. M. (2014). The craft of family therapy: Challenging certainties. New York: Routledge.
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Lappin, J. (2018). Challenge in Structural Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_968-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_968-2
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Latest
Challenge in Structural Family Therapy- Published:
- 21 August 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_968-2
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Challenge in Structural Family Therapy- Published:
- 24 October 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_968-1