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Family Therapy, Systemic Therapy, and Narrative Therapy

Family therapy is a form of psychotherapy that works with families and couples to promote change and development. Griffin (1993) proposes that “Family therapy is any attempt to modify salient environmental features, most importantly interpersonal contacts or beliefs about these contacts, which alter interactional patterns, allowing the presenting problem to be unnecessary.” It prioritizes systems of interaction and relationships. Family therapy is associated with a number of distinct schools including Mental Research Institute (MRI) brief therapy, strategic therapy, structural family therapy, and the Milan systems model. Narrative therapy is derived from the philosophical ideas of Michel Foucault and was developed largely by Michael White and David Epston. It views people as separate from problems and assumes that people have competencies that can help them to change the relationships they have with problems in their lives. Narrative therapy proposes that we create many meaningful stories about our lives, desires, achievements, and failures. Which stories are dominant will affect us emotionally and will affect the choices we make. Narrative therapy is often described as ‘re-storying’ conversations, a process which helps individuals to understand their lives in terms of the stories they choose to tell. Read more
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Disqualifying Others

This Disqualifying Others information handout forms part of the cognitive distortions series, designed to help clients and therapists to work more eff ... https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/disqualifying-others

Fair Fighting Rules For Resolving Conflict

Fair fighting is a collection of rules that individuals can use to manage conflict effectively, so that it is ‘fair’ and works towards a resolutio ... https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/fair-fighting-rules-for-resolving-conflict

Interpersonal Beliefs And Styles

Interpersonal issues and relationship problems form an important part of what clients bring to therapy: they might present as clients’ current conce ... https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/interpersonal-beliefs-and-styles

Reciprocal CBT Formulation

CBT therapists often describe finding it difficult to apply CBT skills when clients bring relational problems to therapy. Familiar methods of visu ... https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/reciprocal-cbt-formulation

Social Comparison

The Social Comparison information handout forms part of the cognitive distortions series, designed to help clients and therapists to work more effecti ... https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/social-comparison

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Information Handouts

Presentations

  • Workshop notes (Externalising conversations, therapeutic posture, re-authoring conversations) | Michael White

Treatment Guide

  • Leeds Systemic Family Therapy Manual | Pote, Stratton, Cottrell, Boston, Shapiro, Hanks | 2000
  • Re-authoring: commonly asked questions | Carey & Russell | 2003
  • Beating sneaky poo: Ideas for faecal soiling (1st edition) | Heins, Ritchie, Prior, Quantum
  • Beating sneaky poo: Ideas for faecal soiling (2nd edition) | Heins, Ritchie, Pryor, Quantum | 1988

Websites

Recommended Reading

  • An introductory guide to circular questions | Brown | 1997
  • Boston, P. (2000). Systemic family therapy and the influence of post-modernism. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 6, 450-457
  • How to trick ‘angry’: Narrative therapy for people with an intellectual disability | Hoole, Morgan | 2008

References

  • Griffin, W. A. (1993). Family therapy: Fundamentals of theory and practice (Vol. 1). Psychology Press.
  • Morgan, A. (2000). What is narrative therapy? Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications.