Techniques Used in Family Therapy
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This paper is an examination of several techniques used in family therapy and seen in sample videotaped sessions during class. Seeing a number of different therapeutic approaches in action, rather than simply reading about the theoretical philosophies of different family therapists, has given me the opportunity to clarify and confront my own personal preferences for both the theory and application of this vital method of providing intervention through the involvement of key family members in the patient's treatment program. The videotapes have allowed me to appreciate the advantages of a wide range of approaches, from Salvador Minuchin's confrontational attempts to restructure the existing family schema to Betty Carter's grandmotherly cognitive-behavioral style that focuses on practical problem solving. These two tapes represent for me the extreme ranges of family therapy techniques, and this paper will focus on comparing and contrasting their philosophies, methods, and goals. I will then show how this focus has given me insights into my own style, and I will outline the benefits and pitfalls that I have found in the ways I have been influenced by studying so many different ways of approaching family therapy. Theoretical analysis is a fascinating endeavor. It allows the student to consider complex issues regarding the human heart from a clean, neat, scientific perspective. I began this course utterly convinced that I knew my own theoretical preferences in psychology, a
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y come closest to my own ideal in terms of personal therapeutic style (though Kempler took longer than I would have liked to start to direct the flow of the session). Both acknowledge, as I would myself, their own humanity as part of the treatment process, and each has personal characteristics that I share and consider assets to the work. Carter has a personal warmth and empathy that can be, to my way of thinking, very useful in providing a comfort level for therapy participants. Kempler has a straightforward style that saves time and energy which are sometimes wasted in the effort of avoiding the real issues under consideration.
However, viewing the tape of the Minuchin session, An Untitled Case, may have been the most instructive experience of all. I saw a therapist who was, at times, quite aggressively willing to confront his patients, even to bully them (ordering the father out of the room at one point, for instance, so that both the father and the patient would not be crying together in the session). In many ways, Minuchin carried my ideals for a therapeutic style to extremes. While many of these methods seemed effective for him, I began to think about how easily self-assuredness could turn into arrogance and simple bl
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Approximate Word count = 2711
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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