Structural Family Therapy

1
Structural Family Therapy

• Intro to Theories of Therapy

2
Structural Family Therapy (SFT)

• Places an emphasis on family structure as the
  reason for dysfunction in the family
• Salvador Minuchin
• Philadelphia Child Guidance work in the 60s
  produced Families of the Slums
• In the 70s, his theories became more delineated
  in Families and Family Therapy

3
SFT Assumptions

• A familys structure is the invisible or covert
  set of functional demands that dictate or
  organize the way family members interact.
• Behavior problems reflect inadequate family
  structure.
• Goal of therapy is to change boundaries and
  hierarchies.

4
SFT Key Concepts

• Three primary subsystems
• Boundaries
• Diffuse
• Rigid
• Clear
• Enmeshment?---------------?Disengagement
• Coalition

5
SFT Therapeutic Interventions

• Boundary making
• Unbalancing
• Joining
• Enactments
• Accommodating
• Raising Intensity
• Inducing a crisis
• Reframing

6
SFT Therapeutic Interventions

• Directives that restructure the family system
• Reinforcing good transactions
• Expanding the repertoire of transactional
  patterns available to the family
• Challenging behavioral patterns, not individuals
• Challenging the familys perception of the problem

7
SFT Therapeutic Interventions

• SFT pays close attention to how the family sits
  when they present.