Transcript II. Foundations of Family Therapy

II. Foundations of Family
Therapy
Power Point presentation prepared by
Leslie Barnes-Young, PhD, Francis Marion University
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
Numerous phenomena gave rise
to family therapy and the systems
perspective in the 1940s & 1950s:
•
•
•
•
•
WWII
Small group dynamics
Marriage Counseling
Research on schizophrenia
The Child Guidance Movement
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
WWII
• Department of Defense researchers
utilized new technology to manufacture
guided missile systems that relied on
feedback to find their target.
• Gregory Bateson applied the concept of
feedback loops to describe families and
the interactions between members.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
Small Group Dynamics
• Early practitioners
discovered the
healing power of
group therapy.
• They sought to
apply group therapy
to families.
• Groups are:
– Transcendent
– Focused less on
content and more on
the interactions
between members
– Allow members to
take on new roles
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
The Child Guidance Movement
• Child guidance clinics exist in
almost every major city.
• They provide for the study and
treatment of childhood
problems.
• This movement, begun in the
years following WWII, included
parents in therapy.
• Clinics now widely practice
family therapy.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
Research on schizophrenia–
• Lots of federal
funding in the 1940s
& 1950s.
• Researchers noted
that some patients
improved when
removed from their
families.
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Marriage counseling
• Emerged as a treatment
modality independent of the
child guidance movement.
• The first professional centers
were established in the 1930s.
• The field was eventually
absorbed into the family
therapy movement.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
In sum,
• Many disparate influences produced the
family therapy movement.
• Seeds were sown in the 1940s.
• The field is still quite young and
continues to evolve.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
To learn more about child guidance
clinics and their impact today:
• The Akron Child Guidance Center
http://www.childgc.org/
• Ackerman Institute for the Family
http://www.ackerman.org/
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003