Family therapy

{{#invoke:Message box|ambox}} Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy and family systems therapy, and earlier generally referred to as marriage therapy, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view these in terms of the systems of interaction between family members. It emphasizes family relationships as an important factor in psychological health. As such, family problems have been seen to arise as an emergent property of systemic interactions, rather than to be blamed on individual members.

Family therapists may focus more on how patterns of interaction maintain the problem rather than trying to identify the cause, as this can be experienced as blaming by some families. It assumes that the family as a whole is larger than the sum of its parts.

Most practitioners are "eclectic", using techniques from several areas, depending upon the client(s). Family therapy practitioners come from a range of professional backgrounds, and some are specifically qualified or licensed/registered in family therapy (licensing is not required in some jurisdictions and requirements vary from place to place). In the UK, family therapists are usually psychologists, nurses, psychotherapists, social workers, or counselors who have done further training in family therapy, either a diploma or an M.Sc..

Multicultural and inter-cultural approaches are being developed.

Family therapy has been used effectively where families, and or individuals in those families experience or suffer:

• serious psychological disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, addictions and eating disorders);
• interactional and transitional crises in a family’s life cycle (e.g. divorce);
• as a support of other psychotherapies and medication.

Methodology

It uses a range of counseling and other techniques including:

• psychotherapy
• systems theory
• communication theory
• systemic coaching

The number of sessions depends on the situation, but the average is 5-20 sessions. The basic theory of family therapy is derived mainly from object relations theory, cognitive psychotherapy, systems theory and narrative approaches. Other important approaches used by family therapists include intergenerational theory (Bowen systems theory, Contextual therapy), EFT (emotionally focused therapy), solution-focused therapy, experiential therapy, and social constructionism.

A family therapist usually meets several members of the family at the same time ("conjoint family therapy" is used in the approach of Virginia Satir.) This has the advantage of making differences between the ways family members perceive mutual relations as well as interaction patterns in the session apparent both for the therapist and the family. These patterns frequently mirror habitual interaction patterns at home, even though the therapist is now incorporated into the family system. Therapy interventions usually focus on relationship patterns rather than on analyzing impulses of the unconscious mind or early childhood trauma of individuals as a Freudian therapist would do.

Family therapy is really a way of thinking, an epistemology rather than about how many people sit in the room with the therapist. Family therapists are relational therapists; they are interested in what goes between people rather than in people.

Depending on circumstances, a therapist may point out to the family interaction patterns that the family might have not noticed; or suggest different ways of responding to other family members. These changes in the way of responding may then trigger repercussions in the whole system, leading to a more satisfactory systemic state.

A novel development in the field of couples therapy in particular, has involved the introduction of insights gained from affective neuroscience and psychopharmacology into clinical practice. There has been particular interest in use of the so-called love hormone – oxytocin – during therapy sessions, although this is still largely experimental and somewhat controversial.

In the United States

Prior to 1999 in California, counselors who specialized in this area were called Marriage, Family and Child Counselors. Today, they are known as Marriage and Family Therapists, (MFTs) and work variously in private practice, in clinical settings such as hospitals, institutions, or counseling organizations.

MFTs are often confused with Clinical Social Workers (CSWs). The primary difference in these two professions is that CSWs focus on social relationships in the community as a whole, while MFTs focus on family relationships.

A master's degree is required to work as an MFT. Most commonly, MFTs will first earn a B.S. or B.A. degree in psychology, and then spend 2 to 3 years completing a program in specific areas of psychology relevant to marriage and family therapy. After graduation, prospective MFTs work as interns.

Requirements vary, but in most states about 3000 hours of supervised work as an intern are needed to sit for a licensing exam. MFTs must be licensed by the state to practice. Only after completing their education and internship and passing the state licensing exam can they call themselves MFTs and work unsupervised.

License restrictions can vary considerably from state to state. In Ohio, for example, Marriage and Family Therapists are currently not allowed to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, practice independently, or bill insurance. MFTs in Ohio face a long road of fighting for equality.

There have been concerns raised within the profession about the fact that specialist training in couples therapy – as distinct from family therapy in general - is not required to gain a license as an MFT or membership of the main professional body (AAMFT).

Since issues of interpersonal conflict, values, and ethics are often more pronounced in relationship therapy than in individual therapy, there has been debate within the profession about the values implicit in the various theoretical models of therapy and the role of the therapist’s own values in the therapeutic process, and how prospective clients should best go about finding a therapist whose values and objectives are most consistent with their own. Specific issues that have emerged have included an increasing questioning of the longstanding notion of therapeutic neutrality, a concern with questions of justice and self-determination, connectedness and independence, ‘functioning’ versus ‘authenticity’, and questions about the degree of the therapist’s ‘pro-marriage/family’ versus ‘pro-individual’ commitment.

Founders and key influences

Some key developers of family therapy are:

• Nathan Ackerman (psychoanalytic)
• Gregory Bateson (1904 – 1980) (cybernetics)
• Insoo Kim Berg (solution focused therapy)
• Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy (Contextual therapy, relational ethics)
• Murray Bowen (systems theory)
• John Bradshaw (author) (systems theory)
• Milton H. Erickson (hypnotherapy, strategic therapy)
• James Framo (object relations theory)
• John Gottman (marriage)
• Jay Haley (strategic therapy, communications)
• Lynn Hoffman
• Don D. Jackson
• Susan Johnson (emotionally focused therapy)
• Walter Kempler (Gestalt psychology)
• George L. McGhee (MFT laws and ethics founder CAMFT)
• Salvador Minuchin (structural)
• Virginia Satir (communications and experiential)
• Robin Skynner (Group Analysis)
• Carl Whitaker (Family, Systems, Co-Therapy)
• Michael White (narrative therapy)
• Lyman Wynne (Schizophrenia, pseudomutuality)

See also

• Child abuse
• Conflict resolution
• Domestic violence
• Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy
• Family
• Genogram
• Group therapy
• Interpersonal relationship
• Intimate relationship
• Marriage
• Mediation
• Mental health professional
• Relationship counseling
• Relationships Australia

External links

• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
• American Family Therapy Academy
• Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice in the UK
• Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy
• Bowen Theory
• California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
• European Family Therapy Association
• International Family Therapy Association
• Historical overview of field; Therapist profiles; Timeline
• Harvard Mental Health Letter article on Couple Therapy

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