Novice Counselor's blog

Structural Family therapy means approaching clients in their social context. It is based on changing the organization of the family. Structural Theory rests on the assumptions that outer context affects inner psychic processes, that changes in context produce changes in the individual and that the therapist working with the family becomes a part of the context (Napoliello & Smith Sweet, 1992). The actions and transactions of everyone in the family are interrelated. The goal of family therapy is for the individual to experience once again belonging to the group. In structural therapy the counselor becomes part of the group and experiences the dynamics of the family as an insider so that he/she can react, challenge and probe (Napoliello & Smith Sweet, 1992). Jonathon is a Native American client estranged from his family and suffering from depression and alcohol abuse. The structural therapist may invite members of Jonathon’s family to sessions with him and watch how they interact, all the time responding to their interaction. The structural therapist may even visit the reservation to meet with the extended and immediate family along with Jonathon. The structural therapist would then alternate between participation and observation as a way of unbalancing the family system by supporting one family member against another (Capuzzi & Gross, 2007). The structural therapist uses spontaneity and different parts of himself or herself to interact with the family.

Minuchin’s style of turning family members into co-therapists would be a useful technique in Jonathon’s case. The structural therapist may possibly help Jonathon get in touch with his Native American culture by showing him that religious healing and shamanism, as practiced by the Native Americans, and psychotherapy all invoke similar psychological processes, and that all utilize symbolic healing. The spiritual and religious premise is strong in Native American culture, and if counselors possess a fixed reality, they may encounter problems.((Napoliello & Smith Sweet, 1992)

Strategic therapy is more problem focused and directive. Change is assumed to progress in not only linear but also in discontinuous manner (Grebe, 1986). As with structural therapy, the goal of strategic therapy is to make shifts in the family structure. Strategic Therapy looks at the structure of the family. In the case of Jonathon, the strategic therapist would analyze Jonathon’s immediate and extended family and study how they interact. The strategic therapist would take into account Jonathon’s feelings of alienation from his current wife and children and his desire to return back to them. The therapist would then arrange for them to come to joint sessions and help them interact, for example via art therapy. Strategic therapy uses specific techniques, such as art therapy, to bring about change. To address Jonathon’s alcohol abuse the strategic therapist may direct him to attend AA meetings. In order to address Jonathon’s alienation from his extended family, the strategic therapist may invite those members of the family who are willing to participate into sessions with Jonathon to discuss their differences. The goal of strategic therapy is not to teach the family ab out their malfunctioning system but to change the family interactions so that the presenting problems are resolved (Capuzzi & Gross, 2007).

Capuzzi, D., Gross, D. R. (2007). Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0131987372.

Grebe, S. C. (1986); A comparison of the tasks and definitions of family mediation and those of strategic family therapy. Mediation Quarterly, No. 13, pp. 53-59.

Napoliello, A. L., Smith Sweet, E., (1992); Salvador Minuchin’s Structural Family Therapy and its Application to Native Americans. Journal of Family Therapy, Volume 19, Number 2.