Structural Flashcards
(33 cards)
goal of structural therapy
structural changes
role of structural therapist
expert
enactment
an interaction stimulated in structural family therapy in order to observe and then change transactions that make up family structure
leading figures in structural family therapy
Salvador Minuchin and Braulio Montalvo
3 different types of boundaries
rigid, defuse, and clear
joining
a structural family therapy term for accepting and accommodating to families to win their confidence and circumvent resistance
family structure
the way a family is organized into subsystems whose interactions are regulated by interpersonal boundaries
subsystem
smaller units in families, determined by generation, sex, or function
boundary
emotional and physical barriers that protect and enhance the integrity if individuals, subsystems, and families
accommodation
elements of a system automatically adjust to coordinate their functioning; people may have to work at it
boundary making
negotiating the boundaries between members of a relationship and between the relationship and the outside world
_____ families accommodate to changed circumstances; _____ families increase the rigidity of structures that are no longer working
(1) healthy; (2) dysfunctional
hierarchical structure
family functioning based one clear generational boundaries, where the parents maintain control and authority
cross-generational coalition
an inappropriate alliance between a parent and child, who side together against a third member of the family
general steps of structural family therapy
(1) joining and accommodating, (2) enactment, (3) structural mapping, (4) highlighting and modifying interactions, (5) boundary making, (6) unbalancing, (7) challenging unproductive assumptions
intensity
Minuchin’s term for changing maladaptive transactions by using strong affect, repeated intervention, or prolonged pressure
shaping competence
encouraging and reinforcing productive behavior rather than criticizing dysfunctional behavior
complementarity
the reciprocity that is the defining feature of every relationship

Clear Boundary
A clear boundary enables children to interact with their parents but excludes them from the spouse subsystem and establishes a hierarchical structure in which parents exercise a position of leadership. Considered “normal”/healthy

Coalition, may be overt or covert. Cross-generational coalitions develop when one or both parents trying to enlist the support of the child against the other parent.

Conflict

Detouring - a type of triangulation. Detouring occurs when parents, rather than directing anger or criticism toward each other, focus the negativity on the child and the parent-child conflict thus serves to distract from the tension in the marital subsystem; sometimes called scapegoating

Diffuse boundary.
In enmeshed families boundaries are diffuse and family members overreact and become intrusively involved with one another. Enmeshed parents create difficulties by hindering the development of more mature forms of behavior in their children and by interfering with their ability to solve their own problems.

Involvement








