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Family Systems Therapy and Family Genograms

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This assessment was graded 80% and required us to analyze the family system by looking at particular functions/dysfunctions and processes within either our own family, another family we know, or a made-up family. We then had to identify a real or imagined occurrence, incident or situation within ou...

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  • February 11, 2020
  • 11
  • 2019/2020
  • Essay
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3  reviews

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By: zetque • 3 year ago

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By: ginatawe • 4 year ago

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By: Kels1602 • 4 year ago

Thank you so much, Gina :)

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By: moniqueanne • 4 year ago

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Running Head: FAMILY WORK AND RELATIONSHIPS


Table of Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................................1

The Family Systems Perspective....................................................................................1

Theoretical Approach.................................................................................................2

Analysis of the Family System & Three-Generation Genogram...................................3

Family History............................................................................................................3

Characteristics of the Family System.........................................................................5

Conclusion......................................................................................................................9

Works Cited..................................................................................................................10

Appendix......................................................................................................................11




Introduction

Our personal perspective and western culture often tell us that we are autonomous

individuals, capable of free and independent choice. But we are born into families, and many

of us live our entire lives attached to one form of family or another. Within our families, we

discover who we are, develop and change, as well as give and receive and provide the support

we need for survival [ CITATION GCo17 \l 1033 ]. We create, maintain and live by often

unspoken rules and routines that aim to maintain family functioning. As a result, the family

systems perspective has developed.

The Family Systems Perspective

Family systems theory has developed over the past 100 years, and today counsellors

utilise various perspectives when they tailor therapy to a respective family. The first known

associates of family therapy were Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs who used a model now

known as open-forum family counselling [ CITATION GCo17 \l 1033 ]. Phenomenology,

, FAMILY WORK AND RELATIONSHIPS 2


introduced by Adler, contributed to our understanding of family constellations and sought to

discover the goals and purposes of behaviour within these interactions [ CITATION Pau12 \l

1033 ]. Also referred to as Multigenerational family therapy, Murray Bowen’s family systems

approach evolved from psychoanalytic principles and practices. Murray Bowen believed that

families could best be understood when analysed from a three-generational perspective due to

patterns of interpersonal relationships connecting family members across generations

[ CITATION GCo17 \l 1033 ]. Bowen’s objectives in therapy were to assist family members

in developing a rational, non-reactive approach to living, known as differentiation of self. His

other objective was to detangle family interactions that involved two people pulling a third

person into problems or arguments, known as triangulation. His observations led to his

interest in family patterns across generations. Bowen believed that the issues shown in one’s

current family will not significantly change until the relationship patterns in one’s family of

origin are understood and directly challenged [ CITATION GCo17 \l 1033 ].

Theoretical Approach

Bowen’s approach is based on the idea that predictable patterns of interpersonal

relationships connect the functioning of family members across generations. Thus, it is

believed that an individual’s problems can only be understood by viewing the role of the

family as an emotional unit [ CITATION Ste99 \l 1033 ]. Unresolved emotional reactivity to

one’s family needs to be addressed if one wants to develop a unique personality within the

family unit, and unresolved emotional issues will be passed down from one generation to the

next until dealt with effectively. For such change to occur, other family members need to

assist the individual experiencing problems [ CITATION Ste99 \l 1033 ].

The family systems perspective is based on the assumptions that firstly, a client’s

problematic behaviour may serve a purpose or function for the family, secondly, may be

unintentionally maintained by family processes, thirdly, issues may be a function of the

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