FAMILY THERAPY

Presented by: Sana Hamzeh

Clinical psychologist
Psychotherapist

DEFINITION

Family therapy (as its name indicates) is an interpersonal

therapeutic technique applied to family.
Family therapies are aimed at patients, as well as their
family.

DEFINITION

Family therapy is directive since the

therapist offers the solution for a change.
It also is a strong support welcomed by the
family.

FAMILY THERAPY PRINCIPLES

To spot the patients position in the family

Analyse alliances and disrupted family interactions

Emphasise that there is no crazy individual in the

family, but that the relationship is crazy.

 All

the members are active, even when they are

slowing the change down.

There

are different sorts of family therapy.

Each

therapy has its specificity (technique and

references)

PSYCHOANALYTICAL
FAMILY THERAPIES
They

use individual psychoanalytical

concepts to understand the structure of
interpersonal conflicts in the family.

They take into account parents unresolved

psychological conflicts projection on their child, who
bears them passively.
And they consider transgenerational conflicts
intervention:
Unresolved conflicts between parents and the patient
(child) and their own parents are often projected on this
child.
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Therapists need to meet every member of the

family.
the patients parents, grandparents, brothers and
sisters.
At least during the first sessions.
Then, the sessions will bring the most important
members of the family together.

 How

long does a session last for?

Sessions last for about an hour and a half.
They take place once or twice a month.
How does a session take place?
Psychoanalytic family therapies involve
the usual kind of meetings, during which
participants speak. The therapist
(sometimes, there are two of them)
facilitates the debates.
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The Systemic Family Therapy (TFS)

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The

Systemic Family Therapy

(TFS)
It is a treatment that analyses the
communication and forms of
interaction within the family.

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OBJECTIVE
The

family shares the symptom together and

mobilises to confront the fear of repetition
through intervening to respect each and
everyones role and space.

Why systemic?
Relating

to a system in its whole

There are several concepts
Paradoxical communication (double constraint)
The patient becomes the holder of the
groups symptomology
The familys dysfunction consists in domestic
violence perpetrated by the husband,
violence against children
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Hated child will never be beautiful.

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 Transmission

through generations Women that have

not been protected (within their family of origin)
in their childhood and adolescence can often not
identify the suffering of their own children when
they will be abused.

Transgressions

can not be simply explained through

the couples relationship.

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We have to refer to each spouses previous

generation to understand their action
They are not able to change the perception
they have on their son:
a bad child has to be punished in order for
him to become better.
The son plays a role of scapegoat for his
parents. He represents the expectations that
cannot be fulfilled.
The dialogue on relationships is quickly
blocked.

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Maintaining the couples relationship

is paradoxically linked to the fact that
they avoid recognising the reciprocal
disappointment
The child enables this process by
bearing their aggressiveness and
sadism.
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 Therapy

sessions resume each and

everyones difficult past experience.
Heal children
Humanise adult-child relationships
Encourages trust towards adults
Transmit other educational schemes than
those perverted by the father (in the case
of violent fathers)
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Systemic therapists use the two room

process:
a room where the family meets with the
therapist,
a another room separated by a two-way
mirror,
where a supervisor is located to discuss
with the therapist,
to protect him from an excessive
emotional involvement.
The family is of course aware of this
setting

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Family therapy at Restart (TFR)

The

whole family is affected, each member has its

shadow.

We

always speak to the whole family and the

therapist will act on every relationship within the
family.
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It should be avoided to the patient to be seen

as a scapegoat.
The objective will be to teach a better
communication to every family members
To obtain a change, an action must be taken
on the how of every family members
functioning, rather than the why.
The family, which is a system pattern, is
characterised by two contradictory
tendencies:
homeostasis and a tendency to

change

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THE THERAPISTS ROLE

He never appears as the Almighty, official
operator, example or model for the family.
He collaborates with all the members of the team
involved.
During the first interview, the therapist looks for
the familys motivations and encourages them to
avoid resistances.
He keeps away the risk of blames, in order to get
the best participation possible.
One or two sessions to structure the group

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The family therapist sometimes gets a feeling of

intrusion or even violation of the familys intimacy.

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