A Brief History of Family Therapy

PSYC5790 Family Counseling: Theory and Practice

Historical ContextFreud

Implicit family influenceJung

Wholeness Synthesis of opposites

Adler Behavior in context Family structure Really did a lot of family

therapySullivan

Personality inseparable from interpersonal

Therapist as a part of this (not “observer”)

Fromm-Reichman Extended Sullivan Schizophrenic Family Therapy “Schizophrenogenic Mother”

(1948)

Allport Acknowledged

social/contextual nature

Lewin Field Theory

Dewey and Bentley Context Relation of observer/observed

Others: Horney, James, Barker, Goldstein

Cybernetics (1940's)

Multiple Disciplines Physics, Math, etc. (initially hard

sciences)

Organization, patterns, processes vs. matter, material, and content

Feedback mechanisms Communication

WWII

Interdisciplinary approachMan and machine together (as a system)Teleology - purposive behavior

Gregory Bateson (40's & 50's)

AnthropologistTranslated language of “science” into social science and communication termsTranslated psychology into communication terms

Gregory Bateson (2)

Communication Theory Paradox Logical types Levels of communication

Conflicted levels Schizophrenia

Schizophrenogenic mothers (communication) Double-bind hypothesis Key concept is that psychopathology is

interpersonal, not intrapsychic

Post WWII

Zeitgeist Faith in science Cybernetics (physics) Systems theory (biology)

Lots of Support for Research Think tank Exploration/experimentation

Nathan Ackerman

Child psychoanalyst“Grandfather of family therapy”Family focus in treatment Child and mother Role relationships Home visits Still rather individual

actually both

Family Process Journal

Murray Bowen

PsychoanalystMother/child symbiosis Hospitalized both! Then whole families

Developed major theoretical approach

Carl Whitaker

Psychiatrist“Atheoretical” (very unorthodox)“Experiencing with families”Conference where local families brought in and demos done“Psychotherapy of the absurd”

Theodore Lidz

MD (psychiatrist)Schizophrenia, tooFamily role in disorderDevelopment beyond childhoodAttacked Freudian conceptualizations (did it well)Described marital dynamics schism and skew

Lyman Wynne

Schizophrenia research Family importance Communication

pseudomutuality pseudohostility

Hospitalized families

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy

Hungarian psychoanalyst (MD)Founded family therapy department in Philadelphia (1957)Intergenerational focus“Ethical redefinition of the relational context”

John Bell

[One of] the first doing family therapySaw family as problem, not individualUsed group dynamic stuff to conceptualize families (what other literature was there?)

Christian Midelfort

PsychoanalystFamily therapistOne of the first books on family therapy (1957)

Salvador Minuchin

Argentinian child psychiatristWiltwyck School for Boys Juvenile delinquent boys Low income, inner city

The Stage Is Set

Previous thoughts and thinkers set stage for formal articulation of theoriesParadigm Shift (60's) Kuhn: Scientific Revolution From People to “Schools”

MRI (not really a school at first)

Major players cycled through MRI Bateson, Satir, Haley, Weakland,

Jackson, Fisch, others

Legitimized family therapyCommunication approachesStrategic Family TherapyBrief Treatment Program

Golden Years (‘70-85)

Centers“Masters” Separation

Psychodynamic

BowenBoszormenyi-NagyAckerman

Experiential/Existential

Whitaker (atheoretical)Kempler (Gestalt)Satir (humanistic) (warmest, “feelingest”)

Structural School

Salvador Minuchin Male juvenile delinquents inner city, low income, ghetto

Structural family therapy

Strategic

Jay HaleyMilan Group Milan Italy Strategic approach, with a twist Palazzoli, Boscolo, others

Additional Schools

Communications MRI Satir

Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral

Post Golden Years (1985 - ?)

CritiquesSocial ConstructionismIntegration Pluralism Theoretical Integration Technical/Systematic Eclecticism

Contemporary Themes

Cultural sensitivity Including spirituality and religion

PTSD in all formsManaged careEvidence-based practiceOthers

Sociology of Psychology

Fragmented ideasComing together of ideasUnique Coherent TheorySeparation and DifferentiationAbsorption

Multidisciplinary

AnthropologyCounselingDemographyEconomicsEducationHistoryHome Economics

Human DevelopmentLawPsychoanalysisPsychologyPublic HealthReligionSocial WorkSociology