Systemic therapies are rooted in family therapy, nowadays it is not necessary to have the family as a center of attention for the gaze to be systemic, from this perspective what counts is the relationship, that is, the process of interaction between people. and not so much the observation of the isolated individual.
It was the Austrian biologist and philosopher Ludwig von Bertalanffy who formulated general systems theory in 1968, who used the concept of the system as “a complex of interacting elements” to later apply it in the therapeutic sphere to become the predominant model. in family and relational studies.
- However.
- The systemic perspective also feeds on inputs from other disciplines.
- Mainly in relation to the theoretical field.
- Some of them are cybernetics.
- Pragmatic developments in communication and family psychotherapy.
- This integration of perspectives has allowed the development of a wide range of areas.
- Ranging from individual treatments to group treatments.
- Couples and.
- Of course.
- Families (Hoffman.
- 1987).
The point of union of the different approaches is the concept of system, from which it follows that it is greater than the sum of the parties, that is, from the systemic approach, the focus is on the properties of the whole that result from the interaction of the different elements of the system. If we translate, in general terms, it means that what matters is the relationship that arises from the interaction between people.
Thus, systemic psychologists adopt a general idea: a system, whatever it is, family, couple or social, consists of one or more elements linked to each other in such a way that a change of state will be followed ‘a change in the system, being able to know the fundamental aspects of the individual pathology of one of the members of the system.
The most important history of systemic therapies is in psychoanalysis. The term “schizophrenic mother” is an example. Or the use of Bell’s family interviews.
However, the most obvious beginnings of this therapy came from anthropologist Gregory Bateson and his team of veterans at Palo Alto Administrative Hospital, who has partnered with other researchers such as Jackson, Haley and Weakland to analyze the communication system of schizophrenic families.
One of the most interesting theories of research was the theory of double bonds, this theory explains how the contradiction between two or more messages can induce delirium to escape reality, since contradiction involves receiving simultaneous orders impossible to execute, because the realization of one involves disobeying the other. An example could be the expression?To a daughter of her mother, who at the level of sign language transmits rejection.
At the same time, in 1962, Jackson and Ackerman founded the journal Family Process and Bertalanffy formulated the Theory of General Systems, the latter being the theory that develops a number of factors common to all systemic therapies.
While systemic therapies are very broad and include, as we said above, a large group of disciplines, there are a number of aspects common to all, the most important is the concept of system that we have already mentioned as “a set of objects or elements that relate to each other”.
In his general theory of systems, Bertalanffy also highlighted the concept of interaction, assuming that a system implies an interdependence between the parties, or in the case of systemic therapies, of the people involved in the relationship.
In addition, in general systems theory, it is argued that each of the parts that form a system can be considered a subsystem, in this way the family can be the system and the mother-child relationship a subsystem.
It is also important to differentiate between open and closed systems, although there is no unified criterion among researchers to differentiate them, according to Bertanlaffy’s conceptualization, a closed system is a system that does not exchange with the environment, while an open system is constantly in exchange with the environment and other systems.
For example, closed family systems have no exchange with the environment, the final state depends on the initial conditions of that system, and there is a gradual depletion of energy at the junction and in the family system.
From this observation, authors such as Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackon of the Palo Alto School, and from the derivation of the study of other concepts of general systems theory, arises the “theory of human communication”. This theory brings common aspects and ideas to all systemic models such as:
In addition, each systemic school has a number of peculiarities, let’s look at some of them in more detail.
This systemic school identifies with the second generation of Alto stick researchers (Watzlawick, Weakland
Some of the maximums of this school are
Minuchin and Haley are the main representatives of this school, for them it is essential to analyze the structure of the system in order to know the type of relationships that its members have and thus apply the treatment.
Both claim that families organize around alliances and coalitions. For example, an alliance is defined by the proximity of two members as opposed to a more distant third. Whereas a coalition consists of the union of two members instead of a third. Coalitions of different generations are called wicked triangles (mother and son versus father, for example).
In this perspective, the therapist uses a number of techniques to modify the family structure, question family definitions, and perform a positive redefinition of the symptom. Are you also committed to prescribing tasks to certain family members, destabilization?where the therapist slept with a subsystem?to provoke a restructuring of Haley’s borders or paradoxical interventions.
This school was born from the work of Mara Selvini-Palazzoli and her team, who focus on disorders such as anorexia or psychotic disorders that occur in rigid families.
The systemic school in Milan pays special attention to the data collected from the time of the deviation and the first contact, so they build a working hypothesis that will be contrasted in the development of the first session, working mainly with the meanings of the family in relation to the symptom and the patient identified to recover the presence and lack of consensus.
One of the interventions created by this school is the invariable prescription, a specific program to work with psychotic families that consists in entrusting the same task to the whole family, trying to combine parents through a secret, which promotes the separation of subsystems, mainly that formed by children.
Systemic therapies offer a different perspective on problems and difficulties. A perspective that points to the relationship above the individual as a work axis to help improve people’s lives. A curious and interesting tour that is becoming increasingly important in the therapeutic field.