Common Terms In Family Systems Theory

Front 1

Emotional Fusion

Back 1

When family members distance themselves from one another in order to reduce the intensity of their relationships. Members become isolated during the process

Front 2

Psychological Defenses

Back 2

Processes by which people protect themselves from intolerable anxiety by keeping unaccpetable impulses out of their awareness

Front 3

Projection

Back 3

A defense mechanism in which one person attributes to someone else his or her unacceptable feelings

Front 4

Emotional Cutoff

Back 4

An instinctual process between generations that invovles the way people separate themselves from the past in order to start thier lives in the present generation

Front 5

Sibling Position

Back 5

This is a possible predictor of a child's personality development wtihin a nuclear family. It refers to the order in wihc a child is born in relation to other siblings.

Front 6

Societal emotional process

Back 6

The manner in which social systems can be conceptualized as analagous to those of the family regarding that govern interpersonal behavior within and among them

Front 7

Genogram

Back 7

An assessment tool that is a visual representation of the family's composition, structure, member characteristics,and relationships. It usually covers a span of three generations and is formatted to fit one sheet of paper; as a general guide one can look at the material in terms of three categories of information: 1. Significant facts or events 2. Patterns and systems in the family 3.Idisoyncratic view of the patient

Front 8

Detriangulation

Back 8

Any strategy by which the therapist disrupts a triangle and opens up family members to new, more functional alliances or triangles

Front 9

Homeostasis

Back 9

the tendency of a biolgoical system to maintain a relatively stable internal environment through interaction of numerous processes; the propensity within a family to keep a certain established equilibrium