Contextual/Nagy Flashcards
Major Concepts of Contextual:
- Justice/Fairness
- Multidirectional partiality
- Parentification
- Relational Determinants: facts, ind. psych, behav. transactions, relational ethics
- Revolving slate
- Trustworthiness
Theory of Dysfunction in Contextual:
The trustworthiness of relationships breaks down because fairness, caring, and accountability are absent.
Balance of repayment of debt to FOO and self-fulfillment.
Can lead to destructive entitlement.
A child showing symptoms may be honoring loyalty to parents by expressing their feelings more than his or her own.
Theory of Change and focus in Contextual:
- A preventive plan for current and future generations (emphasis on future, i.e. parents to be trustworthy)
- To restore people’s capacity to give through fair relating and trust
Stages of Therapy in Contextual:
- Unit of treatment is decided by the therapist
- Engagement
- Explore historic factors that are having an impact on current relationships.
- Alter perceptions of family and individuals
- Facilitate problem solving
- Encourage family members to increase their options by expanding the trust-basis of their own relationships. Liberation from ‘destructive obligation’ and ‘merit’.
- Therapy is often long-term.
Stance of Therapist(s) in Contextual:
- Active guide, personal engagement
- Co-therapy is encouraged to model equality and mutuality
- Raise the issues of relational balances/accountability
- A catalyst of resources
- Advocate for all within the basic relational context (multigenerational extended family, including deceased members) = multidirectional partiality
Methods/Techniques in Contextual:
- Multidirectional partiality (advocate for all)
- Listening and observing
- Transference to reenact invisible loyalties
- Responding to unconscious material
- Therapist decides who to see based on information shared by family (optimal resource potential)
- Couple treatment is not considered a separate modality
Diagnosis/Assessment in Contextual:
- Family resources are the main focus of assessment, they are seen as potentially self-validating, and capacity for expressing their ‘truths’
- Observations of family relationships, includes all four dimensions (facts, psychology, transactions, relational ethics)
- Assessment is an ongoing process
- The therapist understands the convictions of people as deriving from both the stage of development and the effect of family and other group loyalties.
- Triangles are assessed.
Define relational ethics and how it is different from morality:
Contextual/Nagy
The fundamental dynamic force that holds families and communities together through reliability and trustworthiness.
People are ethically responsible for the effect of their behavior on others and consider the basic life interests of other members.
NOT morality of right/wrong but process of achieving equitable balance of fairness among people
Define legacy:
Contextual/Nagy
Because everyone is born to parents, a certain history emerges from the patterns of interactions and meanings to form a basis for how one understands relationships.
Define entitlements:
Contextual/Nagy
What someone is inherently and fairly due and accrues based on behavior toward others and other’s behavior towards him/her
Define ledger:
Contextual/Nagy
An internal system that tracks the relative balance of debts and entitlements.
Ideal = balance between the repayment of debts to FOO and self-fulfillment
Goal and namesake of Contextual therapy:
Nagy
Action by each member leading to a balance of self-validation and fair accountability.
Contextual refers to the total range of people who are potentially affected by the therapeutic effort and the systemic assessment of ethnicity and cultural factors.
Four dimensions of individual and relational psychology in Contextual/Nagy:
- Facts - attributes people are born with and life experiences (gender, ethnicity, divorce, abuse, etc.)
- Psychology - what happens within a person (thoughts, feelings) and the meanings ascribed to facts
- Transactions - patterns of family organization (hierarchy, triangles)
- Relational Ethics - responsibility for the effect of one’s behavior on others
Describe loyalty and how it develops:
Key words: equitable asymmetry, merit, entitlements
Contextual/Nagy
Internalized expectations, injunctions, and obligations deriving from interactions with FOO.
Begins as equitable asymmetry when children cannot look out for their own best interests, allowing parents to earn merit (credit for contributing to the well-being of another) and solidify child’s loyalty commitment (filial loyalty).
Shifts and redefined as children acquire responsibility for their behavior.
Functional adults are able to act on indebtedness to parents (filial responsibility) and contribute to well-being of others, like mate and children, while attending to their own interests.
Describe destructive entitlement and steps of exoneration:
Contextual/Nagy
Development of symptomatic behaviors in the pursuit of self-justifying and harmful means to satisfy perception of what is “due” as a result deficient caring and responsibility in parenting.
Ex. Parentified child will engage in irresponsible, adolescent behaviors as an adult.
Balance and trust restored through exoneration:
understanding –> accept imablances –> taking responsibility
