developing a theory of family structure and a set of guidelines to organize family therapy techniques. As he always says, families walk in using a very narrow part of themselves and it is up to us as family therapists to assist them in expanding their options for more adaptive ways of being, by assisting them in changing their structure.
Going on to Slide 6. Now we will begin to discuss the structural family therapy theory.
As I have said, structural family therapy provides you with a road map to assist you in not getting bogged down with the content of the family's problems, but rather helps you assess the process of the family dynamics. There are three constructs to structural family therapy. There is the structure, subsystems and boundaries. Every family has a …show more content…
How is it created? By the consistent, repetitive, organized and predictable patterns of family behavior. As family transactions are repeated, they foster expectations that establish enduring patterns. For example, let's say you have a family consisting of a father who is the financial provider and works full time, a mother who is the primary caregiver and a stay at home mom, and a typical nine-year-old boy. One day, the nine-year-old boy refuses to clean up his toys before dinner. Mother tries to set the limit and asks him three times to clean up his toys and the boy does not obey. Mother then explains, "Fine, your father will be home in five minutes and he will deal with you."
Father then comes home, sets the limit by saying, "If you do not clean up your toys you will not be able to watch your favorite TV show tonight," which results in the boy immediately obeying because he really wants to see The Ninja Turtles.
If this scenario happens once, there is no pattern established. But if it happens over and over again, a structure is created. Mother becomes the incompetent disciplinarian, with little power, while the father is the competent disciplinarian with a lot of power. The
Going on to Slide 6. Now we will begin to discuss the structural family therapy theory.
As I have said, structural family therapy provides you with a road map to assist you in not getting bogged down with the content of the family's problems, but rather helps you assess the process of the family dynamics. There are three constructs to structural family therapy. There is the structure, subsystems and boundaries. Every family has a …show more content…
How is it created? By the consistent, repetitive, organized and predictable patterns of family behavior. As family transactions are repeated, they foster expectations that establish enduring patterns. For example, let's say you have a family consisting of a father who is the financial provider and works full time, a mother who is the primary caregiver and a stay at home mom, and a typical nine-year-old boy. One day, the nine-year-old boy refuses to clean up his toys before dinner. Mother tries to set the limit and asks him three times to clean up his toys and the boy does not obey. Mother then explains, "Fine, your father will be home in five minutes and he will deal with you."
Father then comes home, sets the limit by saying, "If you do not clean up your toys you will not be able to watch your favorite TV show tonight," which results in the boy immediately obeying because he really wants to see The Ninja Turtles.
If this scenario happens once, there is no pattern established. But if it happens over and over again, a structure is created. Mother becomes the incompetent disciplinarian, with little power, while the father is the competent disciplinarian with a lot of power. The