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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![[236] GRÒWTH-PROMOTING FAMIL Y THERAPY Growth-promoting therapy that takes place at the turning points of the family life cycle is aimed at helping maintain sufficient system stability to allow growth that enhances the functioning of the family rather than hinders it. During the past 10 years I have used and taught a model which focuses on the pre- and neostages of natural life cycle passages. One example is therapy for premarital couples, followed by neomarital therapy six months to a year after marriage. Another is work with prenatal couples to understand their marriage as a system and to see how that will need to change following the birth of a child. This is followed three to six months later by sessions with the new family. Another significant time is the transition from small school age children to adolescence. Working with these families at the preadolescent stage helps form a solid base in order to integrate changes necessitated by adolescent needs. This is followed by seeing the family while they are in the stage of raising adolescent children. Having families available at prestages followed later in the neostage is an ideal arrangement. It is one that I believe could have long range benefits for family growth and health. Many families come for assistance when experiencing some doubt or uncertainty as to how adequately they are handling a developmental cycle. The following case is a good example: Harry and Bertha Dell brought their family for family enhancement therapy when they felt concern about their parenting roles with adolescent children Tom ( 16), Greg (14), and Nell ( 12). Harry and Bertha had been married 18 years, which puts their marriage in a 15-18 year marital cycle. They were experiencing some typical difficulties of that stage. They had been spending so much time on their career developments, raising children, accumulating possessions, and gaining financial security that little time had been given to the maintenance of their marital relationship. Harry was 46 and dealing with concerns usually found in that stage of individual development for men. He was anxious about fulfilling himself at this point rather than about his job success. He was more in touch with his own inner feelings and wanted time for himself—To be a better father and a more satisfied human being, as he put it. Bertha was also 46. She had reentered the work force 10 years before. She had achieved success. She felt good about her ability to develop herself as well as being an adequate mother. At this point she wanted more involvement with Harry and a reaffirmation of the marriage. There is an overlay of at least three life-stage cycles operating at any one time within the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b18037604_0239.JP2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
