Family Systems and Advanced Family Systems:
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What does Family Therapy mean?
o Looking at the family/people in a different way
 Holistically
 Taking it out of the linear causality (need more circular)
 I look at an individual or group of people with a different lens (distinct field)
 Distinct way we look at the human experience and how we deal with it
 Looking at a presenting symptom in the environment and looking at how they
interact with each other
 You want to look at the context in which the family or group is in
 Understanding that there are different types of family systems
 Look at the roles within the family (how different people interact within the
family)
 Finding ways to disrupt patterns
 Patterns are made by actions and reactions (feedback loops)
 Everything we do (and behavior) is through communication (verbal and
nonverbal)
 It is the (1) people, (2) how they interact with each other, and (3) how they
interact with the world
How did MFT come about?
o Through Solving the problem of Schizophrenia
o Used Anthropology, cybernetics, psychiatrists, hypnotists, etc.
o “Moms make their children schizophrenia”
o Different forms of communication can create their own form of reality (Take away)
Therapy in the Room
o Client (client experiences as well) and therapist (therapist experience as well) and the
world (our experiences) that you and the client are creating together
o The whole is greater than the sum of its parts (the experience/relationship is greater
than it’s individual units)
Therapists:
o Can be:
 Part of the system
 And not part of the system (observer)
The relationship as a distinct unit in the therapy room
o How do you operationalize that relationship to create change?
 We build empathy and connection to use that to help them open up to change.
 You as the therapist are in charge of a dynamic unit
 Form an alliance with
Towards a Philosophy of Systems
o Foundational concepts (of what it is to be human)
 Epistemology
 The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its method, validity,
and scope. The investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from
opinion.
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o How do we know what we know?
And who says?
o It’s the authority (the degree)
 And not everyone believes that
 Example of therapist saying what they think is
wrong with the child- the parents question you
on your knowledge (who says?)
o It’s asking where does the common understanding of where our
knowledge comes from
Ontology
 The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.
o How do we define “being?”
 When I look at a person- what am I seeing physically,
mentally, emotionally?
 How do you understand them?
 How do we understand them from a different lens?
 And who says?
 3 Historical Western Epistemologies
 Pre-Modern
o Reliance of revelation for knowledge
o Represented by religious practice
o Ontological implications
 In general – humans viewed as physical and spiritual
 Objectivism
 Working toward things ought to be is important
(there is a right way to do things)
 Modern
o Marked by Enlightenment period
o Focus on empiricism and scientific knowledge (all our research
EST and EBP)
 Ontological implications
 Science is supreme
 Logical Proof
 Empiricism, but non-committal regarding
objective reality
 Post-Modern
o Focus on subjective/constructed knowledge
o Marked by constructivist view of knowledge
o Ontological implications
 Objective reality does not exist
 Co-constructed and subjective
Why Should I Care?
 1) Highlights underlying assumptions about the world in MFT
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2) Invites us into self-reflection regarding our own conceptual worldview
3) Immerses us in dialogue regarding values, biases, and what it means to be
human. Invites consideration of universals.
Humans in Context
o The Human Condition
 Central Thesis of Systems Theory Humans do not exist in isolation
 OR Humans are connected and have a mutually influential relationship
with each other and the systems in which we participate
 The ecological Environment: The Systems in which we live
 Microsystem: Immediate context
o Individuals, groups, and institutions that DIRECTLY influence you
 Mesosystem: Communication between contexts
o Surrounding environments are influential
o Interactions between a person’s microsystems
 Exosystem: Systems in which we are not directly involved but affect us
o Profound influence even though there is NO DIRECT
involvement
o Happenings in time (like
covid example)
 Macrosystem: Culture
o Cultural context in which a
person lives
(socioeconomic status,
wealth, poverty, ethnicity,
etc.)
 Chronosystem: Chronological and
Historical Time
o The environmental events
and transitions that occur
throughout your life
 What is a system?
 A system can be understood as a
unit comprised of a collection of individual parts in some form of
ongoing relationship
 Boundaries delineate system from its environment and pats of systems
from other parts
 Functioning within a system is governed by rules and roles, which are
established and maintained through communication within the system
and between the system and its environment.
 Implies Circular Causality, Interconnectedness, and interdependence of
parts
o As such, the individual affects and is affected by the larger
system. Similarly, smaller systems affect and are affected by
larger systems
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o Expands symptoms to system
 Foundational Concept: The whole is greater than the sum of the parts
o Implies the system has characteristics in itself that are not
attributable to any individual member
o Theoretical foundation for systemic orientation of viewing the
family system as the unit of treatment
 Homeostasis:
o Implies system works to maintain a dynamic state of continuity
through a process of communication with the environment and
the parts of the system
o This is a dynamic (constant change) process, not static (staying
the same) state of balance
o The system will function in ways independent from the
individual functioning of its members (The whole is greater
than the sum of its parts)
Concepts from Video (systems thinking)
o Triangulation:
 Bringing in a third party to a relationship dyad
 Happens when there is anxiety/tension between two parties that can’t be
resolved – rather than completely crumbling – they bring in a third party to
stabilize it (get homeostasis back)
 It becomes a problem though, when the two original parties don’t
resolve their issues even after bringing in a 3rd party
o Differentiation doesn’t occur and emotional fusion begins
o Assess to Hypothesize:
 Always use the language of curiosity
 “The possibility of…?”
 Helps us avoid getting completely consumed in the client’s system
 Biggest sign that we are doing that  When we start to take sides
 Certainty and Challenged Certainty
 Want to withhold certainty
o Things are never always what they seem
o Transference:
 The client projecting some sort of psychological character onto the therapist
 Transferring the relationship onto the therapist and working through it
that way
 As a therapist: you don’t want to have some of your psychological characters
going onto your client
 Example: Working with dad’s might trigger certain situations of you
projecting your dad onto that client.
o Process and Content:
 Process:
 The way the system functions regardless of what the argument is about
 Interactional Pattern
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Name the pattern in the room – therapist’s job (narrate what you are
seeing in the family – the pattern that is present)
 Different from hierarchies (when there is an underlying problem that is
different from what was presented [content])
o Although – the content (or scapegoat) is a still a part of the
issue
 Content:
 What the argument is about – what is presented
 We intervene at the order of process where the pattern lies
First – Second Order Change:
 First Order Change:
 Occurs on the behavioral level without impacting the operating rules of
the system
 Change in behaviors (day to day)
 Second Order Change:
 Involves not just the behavior, but changes or “violations” of the rules
of the system itself (looks at patterns that change)
 Change in the pattern in how it is organized (changed through
interactions)
o Want to change how families communicate with each other
Purposes:
o To Bring the “system” alive
o Give it color and depth
o Learn to recognize the dance
Definitions:
o What is a System:
 A system is can be understood as a unit comprised of a collection of individual
parts in some form of ongoing relationship and has a function or purpose
 Application:
 Immediate family
 Extended family
 Classroom
 Workforce
 School
 Community organizations
 Church
 Therapist/family
 Applicable Concepts:
 Circular Causality
o A influences B and B influences A
o Implies that each part of a system affects the other
o Expands symptom to system
 Mutually Influential relationships (interacts with Circular causality)
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The system itself exerts influence on the individuals
participating within it
o We all influence each other and circular causality is the way we
conceptualize that
Open vs Closed Systems
o Closed Systems:
 Isolated from feedback from or interaction with the
environment
 Very rigid, impermeable boundaries
o Open Systems:
 Boundaries permeable to varying degrees
 Receptive to feedback from environment
 Influenced by and influential on its environment
 All living systems can be considered open systems
 Human systems (e.g. family) are open systems
 Open systems work to maintain a steady-state of
Functioning (homeostasis)
Homeostasis
o Implies system works to maintain a dynamic state of continuity
o Happens through a process of communication with the
environment and the parts of the system
o Open systems maintain homeostasis through feedback loops
 Application:
 Family systems are resistant to change
o As such, they will react to any change
with resistance and work to re-establish
homeostasis
 Example: Shameless – they can
never get out!!!
Positive and Negative Feedback
o Negative Feedback Loops:
 Patterns of interactions that maintain stability or
constancy while minimizing change
 Help maintain homeostasis
o Positive Feedback Loops:
 Patterns of interaction that facilitate change or
movement toward either growth or dissolution
Distinction
o The ability to say I am me and you are you – we are different.
o There is a difference
Punctuation
o Useful when therapists and clients attempt to make sense of
interactions that are the result of circular causality
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It’s an intervention that allows therapists and clients to organize
events and discuss relationships in more intuitive ways
Is there a right and wrong? (move to idea of fit)
 Step 1 – Co-constructed reality occurs and it’s meaningful
 General Constructivism
o The whole world (expansive)
 Part of that is the world of the therapist
 Can’t always have situations in the therapy
room be manifested in the way we want (it’s
different)
 Local Constructivism
o In one area (in this moment)
o Even if we can’t agree on the big box of the whole world – it’s
important to remember that in the therapy room, there is this
co-experience
 Step 2 – Dualism (right and wrong) needs to be put aside (step outside of it)
 Context of therapy room – right and wrong means something different
o Take the hierarchy or right and wrong and stop playing with it
when in the therapy room
 If something doesn’t seem to fit with the client
 Step 3 – Punctuation
 We punctuate or pay attention to a certain sequence of interactions of
behaviors
 We see a certain amount of behavior patterns – so we punctuate them
because they are meaningful or important to them
 Putting brackets around a specific interactional pattern
o Step away from “you’re right and you’re wrong” and focus
(highlight) on this specific thing
 Step 4 – “ Fit”
 Reframing (changes the lens) – due to punctuation change
 Take right or wrong and replace with comfortable fit and uncomfortable
fit
 When there is a fit – it’s impactful and meaningful
 Fit is the impact of the reframe on a lived experience
Schismogenesis vs Homeostasis:
 Schismogenesis – crumbling of the system (e.g. divorce)
 Homeostasis – maintaining a stable system
Difference between
 Relationships are enmeshed or disengaged
 Boundaries are diffuse or rigid
 Boundaries lead to the type of relationships
o Diffuse = Enmeshed
o Rigid = Disengaged
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Explanatory concepts
o Monumental shift from lineal to circular causality
 Implications?
 Method of examining the construction of reality through
communication and thus changing it
o Implications?
 Separates the individual from the system while also
integrating the individual into the system
- Constructing the System:
o Distinction:
 Expanding symptom to system
 Relevant systemic concepts
 The whole is greater than the sum of the parts
 Process and content
 Circular causality and mutually influential relationships
o Systemic Concepts:
 Punctuation
 Process and content
 Lineal vs circular
 Reality and subjective Co-Construction
 Addresses recursive relationships
 Recursive relationship between sensory experience and internal
symbolic constructions
o Logical Types
 Establishes communication as a foundational concept in systems theory
 Central Thesis:
 There is a distinction between a given class and the members belonging
to this class
 The class exists on a higher level of abstraction than those things that it explains
or categorizes
 Example: A book is different than the pages of the book. The concept of
book exists on a higher level of abstraction.
 Clinical application: family in which abusive behaviors were not
categorized as abuse but as love
 Grounds systemic theory in the assumption that unconscious processes inform
We establish a category (Things
conscious ones
that are okay).
 MORE NOTES: Are ways of making sense (categorization) our experiences in
order to make sense out of our experiences in the world
Once this is established, we
This is how it is related to Double Binds:
move on – we don’t go back and
Things that are okay
reevaluate (part of who we are)
The way we categorize certain behaviors
differently can create conflicts
HOWEVER:
Hug
How about instead of the
“normal” things in the okay
behavior, we put the wrong in
there (e.g. It’s okay to hug) –
this changes things
Play w/ toys
Run/play
outside
So  our job is to make sense of why
these behaviors are occurring for both of
them (logical types)
The logical types are a way to help make
sense of it all
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Paradox to Abstraction
 In order to make sense of a paradox you have to go to abstraction
 It may seem unreasonable until you go to the next level (abstraction)
 Child inviting abuse (paradox) protects his other siblings from abuse
(Abstraction)
o What is love?
 ACTIVITY:
 Love is getting along – Mom
 Love is showing them how to be a better person, a better them – Dad
 Love is about not doing any of the stuff that happened – Son
Blame vs Responsibility
o Move away from this dualism
 Sometimes when you ask an individual to take responsibility for their actions, it
comes across as blame and shame on them (which can be an issue in itself)
Double Binds:
o Example:
 Mom says hug me – Or I’ll punish you
 Mom says hug me – but also pulls away
 Double binds are a paradox, but double binds have a consequences
o There is not way out (damned if you do, damned if you don’t)
o Another Example:
 A child who is telling you they are punished by their parent, but the parents are
saying they punish them because they love them (there is no way out)
Case Conceptualization
o Problem Interaction Cycle:
 Process and content
 How it was said vs Talking about the stories (heavy stuff)
 First and Second Order of Change
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 Homeostasis
 Mel heats up the conversation – he is the symptom (stories,
inappropriateness)
 I love you – way of creating homeostasis????
 Positive and Negative Feedback
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 Report and Command
 When Terrie is talking about being drug across the floor and he said I
love you
 Boundaries
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 Triangles
 Tons of triangles because they both have been married before
 Husband and wife 1 and wife 2
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Terry and Ed (previous husband – shot himself) and then Mel (husband
now)
Change
o How change occurs based by Family Therapists
 Within the whole family system
 Family needs to move through resistance to change (needs motivation)
 How do you move through that resistance?
o Acknowledging the barrier (can be an intervention as well) is an
important part
 Introspection
 Ownership
 Disruption
 Support
 Flexibility
 There has to be a level of consent (consciousness change)
o 3 Reasons of Why Change Doesn’t occur (Game without End)
 1) The solution is attempted by denying that the problem is a problem
(Terrible Simplification) [Action needed, but none is taken]
 Example: Substance abuse problem for one partner. The other partner
sees the issue, but instead of helping to move toward change, denies
the problem and blames it on other things (Denial attack)
 What happens if this continues over time:
o Gets worse – feedback loops
 But for some reason, there is resistance to change
(homeostasis, saving face move, belonging, etc.)
 What could you do?
o Reframe (gentle process)
 Say it’s a problem
 Make sure they have the resources to confront the
resource
 2) Action is taken when it should not be [Utopia Syndrome] [Sometimes
problems are not changeable]
 Examples:
o Issue in marriage, but rather than addressing that issue, they
address issues that don’t need it in the child
o Family life cycle of child moving to adolescent – parents see it as
a threat
 What happens if this continues over time:
o Confusion, Frustration, etc.
 What do you do?
o Awareness
o Reframe
o Redirecting the action to another area to solve the problem
 3) Intervene at the wrong level/wrong level of the system (First Order Change)
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Example:
o Child doesn’t want to go to school, parents thought something
was wrong with the child, took child to therapy, but found out
later that the child was bullied
 Lived experience (what reframe does for experiential) as a catalyst for
change, is another example of Second order change
Name it to Tame it:
 Method that can help you move beyond the thought so that you can tame
yourself and move on;
 “I have anxiety” – you won’t have it anymore
It can be easy to get sucked into family’s problems (high emotionality)
 Need to be pulled in but taking the duality and evaluating yourself
 Step back. Let yourself be in it and feel it, but need to observe the basis
of what is going on
The here and now is the important part of family therapy:
 We don’t need the history of what happened outside of therapy room – what
happens in the therapy room takes precedence.
Guard your impotence
 You need to step into that place of powerlessness (“I can’t even imagine”Empathy)
 Authenticity is needed for empathy