MFT 5104 Week 3

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Jan 9, 2024

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1 Define and Apply Structural Family Therapy Concepts School of Social Behavior Science, Northcentral University MFT 5104: Treatment Planning and Traditional Family Therapy Dr. Anney Tsuji- Lyons January 23, 2022

2 Define and Apply Structural Family Therapy Concepts Structural family therapy (SFT), founded by Salvador Minuchin in the 1960s, is a type of family therapy that emerged at the dawn of marriage and family therapy. SFT is based on the notion that each family operates in accordance with pre-established patterns and interactions (Sutton, 2019). This therapeutic approach focuses on the structure of a family unit and how it interacts with one another. Minuchin's experience working with Holocaust survivors' children and children from impoverished areas shaped his views on the importance of examining families in their context (Sutton, 2019). Instead of viewing the individual as a separate entity, structural family therapists are interested in how individuals interact with and across the subsystem. When faced with a problem, families devise solutions. When those solutions no longer work, they must interrupt their current thinking in order to find an effective solution. When a family goes to structural therapy, the therapist becomes a part of their systems. This approach de-emphasizes the role of the individual and instead focuses on multiple subsystems and restructuring them, so the family's hierarchy, boundaries, patterns, rules, and overall family functioning are healthy for all members of the system. The Structural Family Therapy lecture three video is an excellent example of structural family therapy. There are three stages of SFT, as stated in the video.  Stage one entails the therapist joining the family's system and adjusting to it.  The second stage is to gain access to the family's current structure, which includes the family's boundaries and hierarchy.

3  Stage three entails reorganizing the family system in order to solve difficulties raised during the assessment phase. They offered a case example that completely coincided with the three stages in this same video. After divorcing, Dave and Melissa split custody of their 7-year-old daughter four years ago. Co-parenting has worked out well for both parents. Melissa has been dating on and off since her marriage ended and has yet to find a steady partner. On the other hand, Dave has a two-year- long partner with whom he intends to marry. Melissa did not take well to Dave's disclosure of this information. Dave began to notice a shift in their dynamic. Dave then inquired about their mother's well-being, to which the daughter replied that the mother cries frequently and that she was disappointed that he was remarrying. After several failed attempts to talk to Melissa about the situation, Dave requested that the entire family attend counseling (Stage one). After that, the therapist is integrated into the family system. (Stage two) Establishing boundaries and a hierarchy—in this case, the therapist can address the parental subsystem first, then the child, and so on. The therapist would then determine whether or not boundaries had been crossed—in this situation, between the mother and her child, resulting in diffuse boundaries and some enmeshment. (Stage 3) The therapist makes an important observation, recognizing the family's development and the need to restore and restructure boundaries. In this case study, Unfolding the Laundry, the family is a blended family with a complicated past. This family struggles with boundaries and hierarchies within their system. The mother, father, and five children from previous marriages make up the family of seven. At first, the family sought therapy because of the thirteen-year-old son's behavior. More issues arose, such as the mother's inability to be independent and the father controlling situations. Minchin

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