Introduction
Tracking is a technique utilized by structural family therapists. Although primarily used for the purpose of identifying patterns of interaction, it also serves a therapeutic purpose.
Rationale
Because Structural Family Therapy looks at individual problems in the context of the family’s relational patterns, structural therapists do not try to find out why a problematic behavior happens, but how it happens: in which kind of situations, who are the participants, what they do before, during, and after the behavior in question occurs.
Description
When assessing a family’s relational patterns in a session, structural therapists pay more attention to the process being displayed than to the verbal content. As family members talk, the therapist notices who interrupts, who supports, if and how they disagree, all of which helps her or him map the “coalitions, affiliations, explicit and implicit conflicts, and the ways family members group themselves in conflict resolution” (Minuchin...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Minuchin, S., & Fishman, H. C. (1981). Family therapy techniques. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Minuchin, P., Colapinto, J., & Minuchin, S. (2007). Working with families of the poor. New York: Guilford.
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
Colapinto, J. (2019). Tracking in Structural 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_973
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_973
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