Prevention in family services : approaches to family wellness / edited by David R. Mace.
- Date:
- [1983], ©1983
Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Credit: Prevention in family services : approaches to family wellness / edited by David R. Mace. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![[234] GROWTH-PROMOTING FAMILY THERAPY which they are unable to cope. They break out of the family bound¬ aries and reach out to someone for help. One way of looking at a crisis relates to growth, for we could state that the more a family system actualizes its growth potential the higher will be its level for coping. Though no family can avoid crises (such as death, by loss or natural consequences) how they deal with each crisis greatly varies. The family therapist working with a family in crisis evaluates the resources present—and those that are not present—in order to help the family to cope. Following the crisis reduction or resolution, the growth- promoting family therapist contracts with the family for a series of sessions aimed at enhancing present competencies and developing their latent strengths. (2) Growth promotion following problem focused therapy. When a family is not in crisis but is seekingtherapy, it is usually because of a problem identified as disruptive to positive family functioning. The problem may be focused on a child and involve issues such as failure in school, stealing, lying, conflict with siblings, or sexually acting out. The problem may be focused on a parent: A mother may accuse her husband of being uninvolved with his children and thus causing frustration and depression for her. A father may feel that the mother is too permissive or too strict and so the two fail to accomplish the task of adequate parenting. In these families someone is usually labeled as the scapegoat or symptom bearer. The family comes to therapy so that the designated patient will be helped to change. They seldom think there is a need for the entire family to make changes. The family therapist must challenge their linear way of looking at the problem and help move them to a more circular perspective. As all members of a family are interdependent, anything that affects one individual affects the entire family, and vice versa. The family therapist will work with the family using a variety of models in order to reduce the stress. This may entail elimination of the symptom or problem. It could mean a change of focus within the family so that a shift in the patterns of functioning takes place bringing new levels of satisfaction for all family members. Many therapists may choose to stop at this point. Growth-promoting therapist, however, continue working with the family at reduced intervals in order to crystalize present changes and to build on those new developments as a means of enhancing family growth. The Robins family's experience is a good example of this approach.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b18037604_0237.JP2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
