What is the method of systemic family psychotherapy?
Systemic family psychotherapy is a technique that aims to change the dysfunctional functioning of the family system. In this case, the whole family, or rather, the family system, living according to “its own” laws, becomes the psychotherapist’s client. Each family member performs a certain function, and the family well-being of all participants in the system depends on how well he performs it.
Systemic family psychotherapy examines the historical past of the entire family as a whole and each of its members individually, studies the structure and functions of the family, and also resolves issues of personal relationships, thereby helping to maintain harmony in marriage.
Features of systemic family psychotherapy
This psychotherapeutic technique originated in the middle of the last century during the period of studying the paradoxes of communication. In a study carried out by a group of American scientists, it was revealed that personal connections and communication in the family can not only lead to psychological problems, but also cure them.
The main feature of systemic family psychotherapy is the treatment of the patient with the help of family connections and values. This uses the law that states that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. That is, the family is considered as a fully formed system that has its own internal organization, and in the case when problems arise in it, treatment is required not for one person, but for the entire family team.
Modern marriage: new trends A. Y. Varga, G. L. Budinaite
Marriage as a socially constructed arrangement between two people is in crisis. No one is happy in the same way, and everyone suffers differently. There are no longer generally accepted rules on how to live with each other correctly and well. The number of marriages is decreasing both in the Western world and in Russia. At the same time, the number of divorces is growing everywhere (however, in Russia more divorces are officially registered - perhaps due to the ever more frequent registration of marriages). Thus, according to Rosstat, every second marriage breaks up in our country.
The situation has changed qualitatively. Understanding the content of these changes makes it possible to see the difficulties and resources that arise when building marital relationships today. In addition, such understanding is necessary for the helping specialist to work effectively.
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Qualitative changes in marriage relations coincided with the advent of a new era - the era of postmodernism, which began approximately in the middle of the 20th century. (it is difficult to strictly date such phenomena, which manifest themselves “unevenly” in different areas of life). Postmodernism has shaken all the basic ideas, norms, values and standards of the previous cultural era. To a large extent, this also applies to the area of marital relations. Before this, for a long time, people lived in conditions of a traditional, patriarchal marriage, which reached the culmination of its development in the modern era. This era was characterized by man's faith in progress and the triumph of reason. People valued order, including in family life.
Traditional marriage was based on a clear hierarchy, where the man was in charge, and on the division of functions in the family - the man supported the family, but his main activities took place outside it, and the woman took care of the house, household and children. A marriage was considered successful if people conscientiously fulfilled their roles and functions: the husband brought income to the family, the woman diligently ran the house, saved money, and was an attentive, caring mother. The wife had to submit to her husband, obey him, live the life that he offered her and, with the money that the husband earned, be where he was. A socially approved husband did not allow himself violence and cruelty towards his wife and children. At the same time, society was tolerant of assault in the family by a man (him in relation to his wife and both in relation to children). Only mutilation was condemned.
Marriage was a moral obligation. The overwhelming majority of women were supported by either their father or husband. Therefore, it was believed that a bachelor acted antisocially: he did not leave offspring and doomed some woman to a sad, lonely existence. At the same time, marriage was thought of as a union for life. In fact, it rarely lasted longer than twenty years. Life expectancy was short, and before the death of one or both spouses, people barely had time to “raise” children.
It was declared that sex outside marriage was unacceptable for both sexes, although secretly premarital relations among men were tolerated and even encouraged, while premarital relations among women were strictly condemned. This was due to the fact that the birth of children was supposed to be possible for a woman only in marriage, since only this guaranteed their normal, full upbringing - a single unmarried woman could not provide such an upbringing for her child, automatically dooming him to life’s hardships. A normal marriage, in addition, necessarily involved the birth of several children. Obviously, the role of the so-called extended family was very significant. They lived in large families of several generations.
Many marriages were concluded by agreement of parents, by convenience. Love as the basis of a marriage became a cultural norm - along with the still existing idea of marriage of convenience, not only financial, but also psychological - only at the beginning of the 20th century. Sexual compatibility was not considered, and in traditionalist societies, is still not considered mandatory for marriage, at least for women. Thus, marriage was supposed to be based on “spiritual closeness and kinship of souls” (which in fact meant the willingness of both to share the generally accepted rules of life), and carnal communication was necessary only to create offspring.
This way of life corresponded to the worldview of people, in which these laws were understood as universal, objective, “given by God and conditioned by nature,” and all deviations from them were considered either as malicious intent or as an anomaly (social, mental, etc.). Despite all the restrictions they imposed, “in exchange” they offered clarity of the behavioral scenario of marriage life and rules of conduct.
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The traditional family in Europe already with the heyday of the industrial era in the 19th century. began to undergo certain changes, which by the beginning of the 20th century. grew ever faster. The era, which led at its culmination to the modernist idea of consistent scientific study and change on this rational basis not only of nature, but also of social life (K. Marx), psyche (S. Freud), etc., could not but influence patriarchal family structure. At the same time, those countries in which industrialization and other modernist transformations took place later and at an accelerated pace (for example, Russia, Turkey, Japan) underwent these changes, obviously in a different (“centauric”) way than Europe, essentially preserving traditional family and at the same time acquiring the features of some, sometimes very obvious (as in Russia in the 1920s) revolutionary changes [1].
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Time from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century. was marked by a number of social processes that actively undermined traditional marriage. Some of these trends and the phenomena generated by them found their further development in the era of postmodernism that interests us.
These “breaking points” were:
• Women's emancipation.
Women gradually but steadily achieved opportunities for education and then a profession; The personal status of women increased - they were granted the right to vote (although there is a wide range of historical dates in different countries). The process of changing the relationship between “powers and functions” in a traditional marriage has begun, and its usual way of life is under threat.
• Increasing awareness of the role of sexual relations and growing interest in them.
The emancipation of women, the development and popularization of Freud's psychoanalytic theory, and other factors mentioned below, on the one hand, reflected and, on the other hand, contributed to growing changes. These changes were frightening and were often met with hostility at the level of public ideology. For example, the story “The Kreutzer Sonata” (1889), seemingly the embodiment of the Christian quest of L. N. Tolstoy, expressing horror at the unbridled “animal” manifestations of man and developing the idea of the need to protect women from sex because they have a normal moral protest against the “animal” was banned in Russia. Its translations were also prohibited in America, since they were considered an open discussion of a topic taboo for “decent society.” Society reacted precisely to this aspect of the story. Tolstoy's idea, which lies on the surface that a good marriage should not be based on sexual relations, did not make an impression, because it was accepted in society a long time ago.
In 1928, the very “influential” work “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” by David Lawrence was also published in England. It expresses the exact opposite idea - a good sex life is extremely important for a woman, from such an experience not only love, but also marriage can grow - based on the harmony of the physical and spiritual, despite the obvious misalliance of the main characters - an aristocrat and a commoner.
• Contraceptives of a more or less modern type appeared from the middle of the 19th century, their industrial production - from the beginning of the 20th century, but until a certain time it was only about contraception.
condoms (note that their appearance caused different reactions from churches - the Protestant church recognized the possibility of their use, the Catholic and Orthodox churches did not). Totalitarian regimes, as a rule, prohibited contraceptives. The first oral contraceptives, i.e., means that the woman herself could use at her own discretion, were invented by the mid-1960s. This coincides with the time of the so-called “sexual revolution”, which is considered by many as a bright manifestation of the postmodern era[2]. The spread of contraceptives has made sex virtually free of the risk of children, and therefore of marriage. Fear of pregnancy did not interfere with more sexual pleasure. In addition, contraceptives made it possible for spouses to arbitrarily regulate and plan the appearance of children without giving up sex. An era of awareness of the meaning and quality of sexual relations and a broad study of sexuality was coming.
• Legitimization of divorce.
Almost all countries since the beginning of the 20th century. went through this process, although it proceeded very unevenly (in Catholic countries - for example, in Italy and Spain, divorce was legalized only in the 1970s, while England legalized it in modern times (1670!). It is necessary to take into account , that the official recognition of the possibility of divorce is not equivalent to its “legitimacy" in the public consciousness. But, one way or another, the idea was increasingly consolidated that there does not have to be one marriage, that one can not be married, especially if a person has already been in one ; accordingly, there can be several marriages-unions in a lifetime, it is possible to end relationships if they are not satisfactory, strive to improve them, etc.
• Urbanization -
The gradual increasing migration of people to large cities, especially pronounced since the beginning of the 20th century, has created the need to meet the requirements of life in a large city[3]. For life in the city, a nuclear family (i.e., only a couple of parents and their children) is more suitable than a multi-generational family. The role of patriarchal traditions in maintaining family life has decreased. The influence of the extended family on the nuclear family has weakened, and the opportunities to use the older generation to help with housework and child care have decreased. Gradually, a public institution of “paid assistance” to spouses began to take shape - in raising children, running a household, etc. The role of a woman in the family changed - she began to work and develop professionally.
There are indicators of a high statistical connection between urbanization and a decrease in the birth rate, which contradicts the widespread opinion that contraceptives primarily influence the decline in the birth rate. Here, a more detailed analysis reveals ambiguous trends, primarily the so-called “cultural differences” of urbanization[4].
• Constant, starting from the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries, progress in medicine
led to a gradual increase in life expectancy and an increase in fertility. The increase in life expectancy has also led to the fact that people, having raised children, are left alone with each other and must again develop their marital relationships. Therefore, the issues of finding new content, “semantic content” of marital relationships have become very relevant. In addition, spouses increasingly, after the children left home, remained quite cheerful and energetic and gradually gained the opportunity to lead an active lifestyle, travel, learn new professions and skills even after retirement, including expanding and changing their circle of friends. social communication. Mature years have also ceased to be an obstacle to divorce and creation of a new marriage.
So, the family of the modernist era already by the middle of the 20th century. ceased to be “extended”, but increasingly became “nuclear” (nuclear), with a decreased number of children compared to the traditional patriarchal family. Different generations lived together less and less often. The nuclear family was more mobile, less connected to the “family nest” and lost a number of “sacred” features of the traditional family, for example, the prerogative of sexual life, as well as the only union “for life”.
All the changes described above were accompanied by characteristic public sentiments: people believed in progress, rejoiced at revolutionary changes in all spheres of life, did not approve of inertia, and condemned retrogrades. On the other hand, all this was accompanied by nostalgia for the good old times and patriarchal way of life. Classical systemic family therapy emerged at this time.
The purpose and objectives of the method of systemic family psychotherapy
The main task of systemic family psychotherapy is the correction of interpersonal family relationships and the elimination of emotional disorders. A psychotherapist working in this direction helps solve problems by seeking family resources, as well as programming to motivate all its members to change.
According to experts, with the right approach, almost any issue that arises in the family can be resolved. This is how the world works that there is nothing ideal in it, including ideal families. But since each unit of society, based on marriage and family ties, is purely individual, the problems that arise in it can only be solved by correctly setting goals and objectives, and this is the prerogative of a family psychotherapist.
Sokolov R. E., Candidate of Medical Sciences, doctor of the highest category
Marital therapy can be either part of family therapy or a special form of psychotherapy focused on the problems of a married couple. This type of therapy helps reduce the intensity of conflicts, feel greater closeness to your partner, and bring a sense of security and trust into the relationship. Emotionally Focused Therapy, a type of couples therapy, is especially suitable for couples who have little intimacy and emotional connection. This method works especially well for men who are described by their wives as emotionally closed and unavailable. Weak congenital or repressed emotionality is not an obstacle to therapy. In the presence of clinical manifestations, psychotherapy also helps to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in spouses.
The goals of Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy are to build a therapeutic alliance with spouses, help spouses access their emotional experiences, reveal to their partner their fears and needs hidden by defensive behavior, and stimulate new responses and change interaction positions. Stress provokes partners to take one or another defensive position in interactions, the roles of “pursuer” and “distancer” are formed. The more the “pursuer” tries to get closer by criticizing the partner, the more the “distancer” distances himself. But the further the “distant” person withdraws from contact due to the feeling of pressure from the partner and the fear of ending up incompetent, the more the “pursuer” strives to achieve it, experiencing acute anxiety and a feeling of loneliness.
Since marital therapy encourages self-disclosure in the relationship with a partner, the presentation of one's vulnerable feelings, it is not very suitable for physically abusive couples and couples who are really seeking divorce. Despite the desire to save a marriage “at any cost,” in some cases it is not only impossible, but also inappropriate to maintain a relationship that brings a lot of negative experiences. Divorce therapy is aimed at the formation and implementation of separation in both partners, the search for a safe solution by spouses to material and everyday problems, issues of communication with children and the establishment of a new individual life style. Marital psychotherapy also works effectively with situations of infidelity, jealousy, and love addiction.
Sexual psychotherapy corrects family and sexual disharmony
Sexual psychotherapy is primarily associated with the correction of family and sexual disharmonies.
The objectives of sexual therapy are to reduce the fear of sexual failure within the framework of the syndrome of anxious expectation of failure, eliminate the deficit in sexual education, and establish the meaning of sexual disorder (a certain interest in it) in relationships between partners. Psychotherapy is complemented by the correction of impaired sexual interaction in a couple (sex therapy exercises, sensory focusing techniques, etc.). As a result of such complex work, most people find new ways of interacting with each other, become more sexually liberated, self-confident and happier. Family psychotherapy
