Transgenerational family therapy techniques

Week 4: Overview

Psychodynamic and Transgenerational Models of Family Therapy
As you read the chapters on Psychodynamic and Transgenerational Theories, think about the important role that theory plays in our work with clients. Theories are the foundation upon which we build our work with clients. Theories act as a compass guiding us from one working stage of development with our clients to the next. They provide techniques and tools that help to shape our therapeutic interventions. Therefore, it is extremely important that you understand the intricacies of each theoretical framework as this will ultimately shape your own orientation.

Our lectures this week will cover Psychodynamic and Transgenerational Models of Family Therapy. You will read the chapters of the text that cover these theories, as well as participate in activities that will help you further deliberate on these theories. One “take away” concept for this week should be that psychodynamic models emphasize insight, motivation, unconscious conflict, and early caregiver attachments, while Transgenerational Models focus on the way in which current family patterns of behavior are involved in unresolved family issues.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this week, you will:

· Recognize the Psychodynamic Model of Family Therapy

· Recognize the Transgenerational Model of Family Therapy

· Apply Psychodynamic and Transgenerational Models of Family Therapy

Readings
Please read the following for this week as well as All Week 4 Online Course Materials:

· Goldenberg, H., & Goldenberg, I. (2013): Chapters 7 and 8

Week 4: Lecture

Family Therapy Theories
Family Therapy Theories, like all theories, provide a guide for our work with clients, but the importance of family therapy theories, specifically, is that they provide the framework for working with the entire family unit. Counselors-in-training should think about their use of family therapy theories as a navigation tool that provides direction for clear and concise work with families.

There is a growing trend within the field of family therapy to borrow concepts and techniques from different theoretical orientations. An eclectic family therapist accomplishes this by calling upon her or his experiences. Integration, however requires a combination of theories and treatment processes with the ultimate goal of implementing unified interventions.

It is important for counselors-in-training to understand what makes for a sound theory. A sound theory must be comprehensive, parsimonious, verifiable, precise, empirically valid, and stimulating. Our quest for sound theory development would not be complete however, without first taking a look into the history that led us here, present day.

Week 4: Lecture

Historical Roots
There are many pioneers, such as Freud, Adler, and Ackerman who played a role in turning the focus of counseling to the family as a unit of individuals whose patterns of behavior and interactions impact each individual within the unit. It is important to take a look at these historical roots, which have remained relevant to our practice of family therapy, even today.

Early research by Freud serves as one of the many historical roots of family therapy, because he recognized that the family provides the early environment in which anxieties are developed. Adler’s perspective on sibling rivalry, family constellation, birth order, and style of life are also rooted in a growing awareness of the role that family experience plays in an individual’s adult behavior.

Notice that Ackerman believes the role of the family therapist is to “stir up” family interaction for the purpose of experiencing a meaningful exchange and ultimately addressing unresolved conflict.

In your readings this week, pay attention to the significance of Object Relations Theory as it relates to issues of attachment and loss. Notice that the focus of Object Relations Family Therapy with Scharff & Scharff is on helping family members become more aware of their pattern of internalizing objects from the past; which continues to impact their current relationships. The ultimate goal for family members here is to be able to support each others' need for attachment, individuation, and personal growth.

Framo believed that conflict derived from an individual’s family of origin is projected onto current family members. The major goal of family of origin sessions were to therefore, identify the issues from the family of origin that might be projected onto current family members for the purpose of ultimately gaining a corrective experience with them.

Kohut developed the idea of self-psychology which emphasizes the relationship between the self and outside objects. Kohut believed that early relationships, especially with the caretaker mother, play a significant role in forming the child’s later identity, which also affects an individual’s ability to develop and maintain relationships.

In summary, intersubjectivity and relational psychoanalysis both emphasize the impact of actual relationships on the development of personality. However, intersubjectivists rely on techniques such as mirroring and idealization, while relational psychoanalysts believe that these techniques actually limit access to feelings and thoughts. In addition, attachment theory considers the role that early caregiver interactions play on an individual’s ability to relate to others. Attachment styles range from secure, anxious, and avoidant, based on the individual’s early attachment experience.

The historical roots described here gave life to other family therapy models. We will begin to explore them next.

Week 4: Lecture

Family Systems and Contextual Therapy
The Transgenerational Model of Family Therapy supports that current family behavior is the result of unresolved issues within the family of origin. According to Bowen, the core issue is the attempt to balance family togetherness and individual autonomy. Bowen’s theoretical contributions have bridged a gap between the psychodynamic and systems approaches.

Bowen offered eight forces that shape family functioning to consist of differentiation of self, triangles, the nuclear family emotional system, the family projection process, emotional cutoff, multigenerational transmission process, sibling position, and societal regression. The goal of family therapy is to reduce anxiety and resolve symptoms in order to maximize each person’s self-differentiation within the family. Family therapists are urged to avoid becoming triangled into the family’s interactions. Specifically, Bowen’s work encourages counselors’ differentiation from their family of origin to assist them with remaining objective in their work with families.

When we think of a genogram, we have grown accustomed to using it as a picture which captures family roots, but the readings suggests that the genogram can also be used to identify certain emotional patterns in each partner’s family, which could prove to be useful when working with a couple in family therapy.

In your readings, notice that contextual therapists believe that the patterns of relating within a family that are passed on from one generation to the next are key elements for understanding family functioning. According to Ivna Boszormenyi-Nagythe developer of Contextual family therapy, the purpose of therapy should be to rebuild trustworthy behavior, with the ultimate goal of helping family members rebalance emotional ledgers with each other in order to develop fairness and accountability in the way they interact with each other.