Which subsystem is most basic in a family

Google Scholar. Bowen, M. The use of family theory in clinical practice. Haley Ed. New York: Grune and Stratton. Family therapy in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson. Minuchin, S. Families and family therapy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. General systems theory: Foundations, development, applications. New York: George Braziller. In that family the bias, the emotional level setting, is too low; a good dose of constructive intensity might recalibrate the bias and make explosions unnecessary.

Self-regulating via feedback loops--negative toward stability and positive toward change --that maintain the bias. Every seasoned drug and alcohol counselor knows that when one member of the family stops drinking or using, the family will subtly try to push him back into his old vices--not because they want him sick, but because families, like other organisms, naturally resist changes that might further destabilize the system.

So one day the husband says to his abstaining wife, "Why not skip your AA meeting tonight so we can catch a movie? A scapegoat? Distraction from other conflicts? Someone to rescue?

Synergy: interractions and feedback loops add to each other as they combine a dynamic expression of wholeness. Battery normally begins with emotional or verbal abuse name-calling, shouting, intimidation, shaming and escalates over the years from pushing and shoving to beatings and even murder.

Abuse gives rise to more abuse, violence to more violence: destructive synergy. In constructive synergy, however, a batterer uses a batterer's group to learn and master rage-control techniques; those enhance his self-esteem; his wife praises his efforts and trusts him more; he feels good about that and shows her more empathy; the two get problems out on the table instead of hiding them; both grow; their affection deepens; their children carry the resulting relationship blueprint into their own relationships.

Therapists prime this process by helping clients consciously relate and capitalize on growth-producing thoughts, feelings, and interactions "Now that you stopped drinking, he feels safer telling you about his sadness; you empathized, so he is listening to you more often and with greater care How will you keep this rolling?

Equipotentiality "equal in the beginning" : things with the same original conditions can go different ways; members of the same family system can share a very similar upbringing but turn out to be very unlike each other. Even twins eventually take different roads, grow into individuals with their own insights and values, habits and preferences. Consciousness guarantees that what we choose to make of our original conditions is more important than the conditions themselves.

The abuse survivor who owns the pain moves on; the one who won't becomes a chronic victim and will probably get into revictimizing situations. Therapists who realize this assume that a client can and should take full responsibility for the work of healing no matter how dangerous or abusive that client's environment may have been. Equifinality equal in the end : things with different original conditions can turn out the same.

I'm an adoptee who grew up with one sister and Lutheran parents, still together, of North European descent; the man who mentors my work with batterers wasn't adopted and grew up with a brother and Catholic parents, both Italian, who divorced; and yet our values, professional goals, criticisms of traditional therapy, and counseling philosophy are very similar and in all important points the same.

In the end, we are what we make of what we were given. Living systems and all they bring with them--equipotentiality, equifinality, wholeness, feedback loops, and all the other system-enhancing processes--move forward through key "horizontal" brought about by time and change transitional stages.

Symptoms occur when vertical stressors old issues, past mistakes, emotional legacies impinge on the system during a transition.

Families are likeliest to be conflicted and symptomatic when key horizontal transitions like marriage, the birth of children, children going to school, children moving away from home, changes of jobs, etc. Example: a workaholic husband driven to succeed by high internalized standards Rogers's "conditions of worth" that equate esteem with production vertical stressor puts in even more overtime to stuff the loneliness he feels when his eldest son leaves for college horizontal stressor.

On the other hand, in more closed families, the practitioner may have a more difficult time being accepted by the family. Information about the family is more difficult to obtain, and ideas and interventions of the practitioner are met with resistance. It is important to also recognize that boundaries exist within the family system and help to distinguish the various subsystems that comprise the larger family system. Finally, the permeability of family boundaries will often change with the developmental age and need of the family members.

For example, developmental needs of adolescents and young adults often press the permeability of family boundaries as new ideas and individuals become part of the young person's world. The concept of interdependence is implicit in the discussion of the organizational nature of family systems. Individual family members and the subsystems that comprise the family system are mutually influenced by and are mutually dependent upon one another Bertalanffy ; Whitchurch and Constantine What happens to one family member, or what one family member does, influences the other family members.

This is one of the primary concepts embedded in clinical models emerging from a systems perspective. Clinicians understand that to effectively work with families it is imperative to consider the systemic impact of any intervention. A second central premise to family systems theory is that families are dynamic in nature and have patterns of rules and strategies that govern the way they interact. The dynamic nature of family helps to ensure that the family can meet the challenges associated with daily living and developmental growth of the family members.

The concept of equilibrium explains how families strive for a sense of balance between the challenges they confront and the resources of the family.

Families are constantly adapting, changing, or responding to daily events as well as more long term developmental challenges and changes. According to family systems theory, families strive for a sense of balance or homeostasis. When such balance is not found, the rules or dynamics of the family may need to be adjusted to restore this balance.

The concept of morphostasis refers to the ability of the family system to maintain consistency in its organizational characteristics despite the challenges that may rise up over time Steinglass Patterns of interaction emerge within the family that keeps demands for change in check. In contrast, morphogenesis refers to the systems' ability to grow systemically over time to adapt to the changing needs of the family. In all families there is an ongoing dynamic tension between trying to maintain stability and introducing change.

The concept of feedback loops is used to describe the patterns or channels of interaction and communication that facilitates movement toward morphogenesis or morphostasis.

Negative feedback loops are those patterns of interaction that maintain stability or constancy while minimizing change. Negative feedback loops help to maintain homeostasis. Positive feedback loops, in contrast, are patterns of interaction that facilitate change or movement toward either growth or dissolution. Although the words negative and positive are used within systems theory, it is not meant to characterize the communication as good or bad.