Counseling Couples and Families from a Systems Perspective

In the past twenty years family therapy has become a major innovative force in the helping professions that has profoundly influenced the way counselors think about and intervene in the lives of their clients (Schafer, Briesmeiste, & Fitton, 1984). Holly Blue focuses on systems theory therapy because it offers family counselors both a conceptual and a practical framework for organizing diagnostic information and evaluating presenting problems.

Generally, the systems perspective views the family as a self-regulating system held together by unspoken rules whose purpose is to maintain itself. Psychological symptoms are viewed as manifestations of a dysfunctional family, and the focus of treatment then becomes the family system, not the problem or symptomatic family member.

SUMMARY

RESOURCE DOCUMENTS

Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. New York: Random House.

Bowen, M. (1978). Family treatment in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson.

Haley, J. (1976). Problem solving therapy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Jackson, D. P., & Weakland, J. H. (1961). Conjoint family therapy: Some considerations on theory, technique, and results. Psychiatry, 24, 30-45.

Klimek, D., & Anderson, M. (1988). Inner world, outer world: Understanding the struggles of adolescence. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan, ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel Services. (ED 290 118)

Liebman, R., Minuchin, S., & Baker, L. (1974). The role of the family in the treatment of anorexia nervosa. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 13, 264-274.

Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Papp, P. (1981). Paradoxes, family therapy techniques. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Satir, V. (1964). Conjoint family therapy. Palo Alto, CA: Science & Behavior Books.

Schafer, C. E., Briesmeiste, J. M., & Fitton, M. E. (1984). Family therapy techniques for problem behaviors of children and teenagers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Selvini-Palazzoli, M. (1978). Paradox and counterparadox. New York: Jason Aronson.

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