Family Systems Vocab 3-10

A clinical process which describes a cluster of symptoms associated with BPD, but which occur, not just in a diagnosed individual, but are present and identifiable throughout several generations of a family system. The patterns which appear include splitting and projective identification among family members, typically children in coexisting triangles, such that one child is perceived as good and the other bad.

A concept which refers to the non-linear, recursive nature of the interaction in family systems where the behavior of one component affects the behavior of a second component which affects the behavior of a third component which, reciprocally, effects the behavior of the first component. This process implies that behavior may be based as much on the interactional dynamics of a system as on the internal psychological processes of each member.

A concept that defines the emotional bonding among family members. May be measured along a continuum where separated and connected are thought to lead to optimal family functioning.

A clinical model which suggests that family behavior is strongly influenced by invisible intergenerational loyalties which involve transgenerational entitlements and indebtedness. The goal of the family therapist is to assist families in exploring their legacies and determining how they can balance obligation to the past, present, and future generations.

A term from Narrative Family Therapy which describes the procedure to subvert the taken for granted realities that often oppress family members. It is used clinically to take apart the problem saturated story of a system. This leads to externalizing conversations about the problem and relabling its meaning.

A clinical intervention from narrative family therapy which involves three stages; 1"tellings". 2 "retellings of the telling" and 3 "retellings of the retellings." The individual family begins the process by telling their story in front of an audience. The audience or outsider witness group then retells the story with an emphasis on a particular quality or skill of the ones who told the story. Finally, the original story tellers reflect on what they have heard in the retelling.

An early cybernetic term which described the process in a system where uncorrected positive feedback produced an escalation of symptoms. For example, high conflict in a dyadic relationship may escalate into abusive behaviors toward one another.

A process where adult children, through understanding intergenerational family dynamics and the potential victimization that may have occurred from generation to the next, learn to forgive one's parents for past negative interactions.

A concept that describes the process whereby changes in a system may leave unaltered the underlying organization of the system. A clinical family may undergo this when it adapts or accommodates, but does not cease, its symptomatic functioning in response to a therapeutic intervention. Thus, the family may have been symptomatic in one way but now it is in another way.

An early expression which meant "the madness of two." In therapy it refers to a delusional system in which two family members, typically a married dyad or a parent-child dyad, collude in such a way that it is not possible to determine which of them is psychotic and which is not. It is an example of psychosis at a systems level.

A concept to recommend that the concern for gender issues become a significant part of the theory and practice of family therapy. For the family therapist, this necessitates a understanding of the effects of differential socialization for both genders and the goal of providing opportunities for both partners to choose voices and roles that may differ than those prescribed by the larger social system.

A clinical model which focuses on helping family systems to develop positive and successful "life stories" which replace their former focus on pathological patterns.

A concept which describes the emergence of a system's organizational patterns which leads to knowledge about the system.

A psychodynamic theory which described the internalized images of one's self and others that are based on early parent-child interactions. These images may become the model for subsequent interpersonal relations in one's family of origin, mate selection, family of procreation, and other intimate relationships.

A clinical intervention in which the family therapist acts upon the system to produce a structural change or accommodation. The system must respond to and compensate for the intervention. This is often intended to unbalance the system in order to increase the potential for change.

A concept which defines a defensive maneuver whereby an individual splits the good from the bad in an external object and internalizes this split perception. It has been used to describe an interactional dynamic within family systems where positive and negative feelings and thoughts are split and experienced in isolation from one another. This behavior distorts the family's perception and experience of reality in such a way that the family tends to view internal and well as external experiences in terms of "black and white" issues without regard for the complexities of the total reality. For example, in the systemic borderline process a family splits their perceptions of two children and designates one as good and one as bad.

A clinical model in which the family therapist designs interventions focused on specific problems. This model uses a cybernetic view which recognizes that symptoms in a family are perpetuated in a recursive sequence such that a solution may involve maintenance and continuation of the actual problem. The goals of this therapy are to induce second-order change in the system.

A concept that describes a relationship in which the family members have relatively equal status and power. This relationship type may display greater conflict than complementarity patterns because the relatively equal status of the partners can cause disputes to escalate circularly leading to a greater disruption.

A clinical model based on identifying the internal organization of subsystems and boundaries of a family system and the manner in which these structural elements define interactional patterns and behaviors.

A concept which defines the potential range of change that a system can tolerate without a loss of identity. The structure sets limits to how a system can respond and what changes it can make.