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Introduction
Introduction
Developed and introduced by Salvador Minuchin.
Structural family therapy shares with other family systems
approaches a preference for a contextual rather than an individual
focus on problems or solutions.
The major concept of this theory that an individuals symptoms
are best understood as rooted in the context of family transaction
patterns, that a change in family organization or structure must
take place before the symptoms are relieved.
In other words the structural model emphasize:
(a) The wholeness of the family system
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Introduction
(b) The influence of the familys hierarchical organization
(c) The interdependent functioning of its subsystems
It is the familys underlying organizational structure (that is, its
enduring and regulating interactional, rule-setting patterns) and its
flexibility in responding to changing conditions throughout the
family life cycle that help govern the appearance of functional or
dysfunctional patterns.
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Therapeutic goals
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Therapeutic goals
The structuralists consider that they have reached their therapeutic
goal when the family has restructured itself and thus freed its
members to relate to one another in nonpathological patterns.
Structural therapists efforts are geared to the present and are
based on the principle of action preceding understanding. That is,
action leads to new experiences, to insight and understanding, to
rearranged structures.
The aim here is to help the family change its stereotyped
interactive patterns and redefine its relationship, thus aiding
members to better deal with the stresses in their lives.
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Therapeutic goals
Structuralists offer family leadership, direction, and encouragement
to examine and discard rigid structures that no longer are
functional and to make adaptive changes in structures as family
circumstances and family developmental stages change.
Hierarchical relationship in which the patterns customarily exercise
authority may be redefined and made more flexible in some cases
and reinforced in others.
Alignments and coalitions may be explored, embedded conflicts
acknowledged, alternative rules considered.
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Therapeutic goals
The therapeutic efforts of structuralists typically follow this order:
1. Joining and accommodating.
2. Assessing family interactions.
3. Monitoring family dysfunctional sets.
4. Restructuring transactional patterns.
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