PART TIME GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN FAMILY THERAPY

ASSIGNMENT NUMBER 1

THEORIES INFORMING SYSTEMIC PRACTICE WITH FAMILIES AND

COUPLES

ERNESTINA NHAPI

YEAR: 2009/2010

TOTAL WORD COUNT:

STUDENT NO.0970116

This assignment will attempt to provide a systemic description of a non-clinical

family taking into account the theories that underpin the development of

approaches that are aimed at addressing relational dynamics between family

members. A range of family therapy models such as transgenerational

(Bowen), structural (Minuchin), strategic (Hayley & MRI), systemic (Milan) and

solution focused (De Shazer) some of which will be looked at in context of the

chosen family. Some of the themes embedded within these models, such as

family systems and boundaries, family beliefs, narratives, gender roles

including the family life cycle will be explored. This particular family has been

chosen because it represents to me, what Minuchin describes as a

psychosomatic family because it has all the features of “enmeshment,

overprotectiveness and lack of conflict resolution”, (Kog et al 1987). It arouses

in me some curiosity about some transgenerational issues that may be taking

place and in a way resonates with some aspects of not only my nuclear but

extended family. The attached genogram helps in the construction of a

pictorial representation of interactional and relational systems and sequences

in the Mitchell family over three generations. According to McGoldrick &

Gerson, (1985), a genogram is a diagnostic tool, which provides a fascinating

view of the richness of a family’s dynamics. There are no issues of

confidentiality to consider as the Mitchell family is a fictional family in a BBC

soap opera Eastenders.

Outwardly this is a very close knit family that communicates freely in the

absence conflict whereas inherently there are unresolved issues which have
at present driven away two members of the sibling subsystem, leaving one

sibling with an alcohol addiction. Peggy, a strong-willed woman is the

matriarchical head of her family. However, this role extends beyond the

family boundary into the community in which she lives as the landlady of the

local pub. Peggy’s husband, the late Eric Mitchell is described as a bully who

physically abused his wife and eldest son and ran his household with an iron

rod. Philip, the eldest, is alcoholic living with his mother and son Ben, Grant

has left the family with his daughter to live in Portugal and Samantha is

currently in jail. Whatever is known about the father Eric is based on

information provided by the family in their interactions.

Family systems theory was borne from the general systems theory with some

insights from cybernetics. Application of the systems perspective offered a

framework which facilitated an understanding of the organisational

complexities of families as well as the interactive patterns that guide their

interactions (Nichols & Schwartz, 1998).

To enable the assessment of this family to take place, I will adopt the stance

of making hypotheses. Patterson (1998) states that the process of developing

hypotheses is an opportunity for creative thinking and that the questions being

asked in therapy should elicit data that will validate or support some or all of

the hypotheses. Barker (2007) stated that the Milan group are of the view that

all the hypotheses formulated need to be systemic in that they include the

family as a whole.

According to Minuchin (1974 p. ), “the family operates as an interrelated and

interdependent unit” which means that the functioning of the family is

dependent on the relationships within that family. The first members of the
Mitchell family to be introduced to Walford Square were Phillip and Grant.

During that time it is reported that their mother had started living with Kevin

Masters, a man who she had carried an on and off relationship with, during

their father’s lifetime. Although from descriptions, Phillip had an unhappy

childhood and Grant was the favoured sibling, the sibling sub-system colluded

and aligned to help each other resist the powerful vertical influences of the

new parental subsystem by moving away from their home. Minuchin

observed that within the family boundaries, the interactions of the family are

organised via power, alignment and coalitions. He further stated that power is

relative to an individual’s level of responsibility and authority. Whilst it is

Minuchin’s belief that adults should have power over children, in this instance,

the sibling subsystem was led by Philip. Walter Toman’s (1976) sibling

profiles describes how the elder child is more likely to take the leadership role

whilst the young siblings are happy to allow decisions to be made for them.

In this instant, a second order change had occurred and as per Goldberg and

Goldberg (2004), where this change has taken place, it is fundamental for

there to be a revision of the systems structure and function. It can be

hypothesised that in bringing her lover into the home, Peggy was seeking to

restore equilibrium into the family by re-establishing the parental subsystem.

The idea of equilibrium explains the manner in which families strive for a

sense of balance between the problems facing them and the resources the

family has. Steinglass (1987) states that when families fail to find this

equilibrium, the rules and dynamics of the family need to change to achieve

this balance and the ability to achieve this change is called morphostasis.
From the age of fifteen Samantha was regularly running away from home

coming to Walford to stay with her brothers as she did not like her mother’s

boyfriend. Inference can made from the fact that Samantha had remained at

home with Peggy and her partner that there was triangulation. It is most likely

for triangulation to occur where two individuals are experiencing stress.

(Nichols and Schwartz 1995). Hoffman (1981) believes that when created

under duress, the triangulating patterns tend to become rigid but in times of

calm in the family life cycle they can be flexible. For example, in this case

because of her dislike of her mother’s partner, Samantha may have

expressed this in her behaviour towards him and Peggy may in turn have

been more sympathetic to her partner rather than Samantha. Since the death

of her father when she was ten years old, she was always on the receiving

end of her brother’s heavy handed paternalism. Her relationship with with all

members of her family is enmeshed and she is portrayed as being

headstrong, flirty and manipulative. During her escapades to Walford, she fell

in love with Ricky Butcher a teenager from the Square who she eloped with at

the age of seventeen against her family’s wishes. Samantha is at a difficult

life-cycle stage in her life where most teens experiment with different,

thoughts, beliefs and values and this commonly causes conflict within a family

and she has had to endure two re-organisations of the parental sub-system.

According to Carter and McGoldrick ( ), the parental sub-system whilst still

maintaining the system’s original boundaries, some parts of the boundaries

need to be permeable at this stage. It is adolescents, they say, that open the

family to a variety of new values as they introduce new ideas and others into

the environment.
After a few months of marriage Samantha returns to Walford to live with the

surviving members of the original nuclear family, who are now all living under

one roof. The dynamic nature of the family system makes it possible for

families to be able to adapt to changes associated with daily living. The

family’s belief and narrative is embedded in the honour and protection of the

family, that as a system they are a force to be reckoned with. The family

script is that no-one messes with the Mitchells. This is what the Mitchell

subsystems believe and the supra subsystem reinforce to them. Peggy’s

hierarchy and control of the community is based on this narrative. Narrative

therapy is a derived from social contructionism i.e. the notion that the way

people experience themselves in a situation is contructed through culturally

mediated social interactions (White & Epston 1990).

Phillip continues being dependable to his brother, paternalistic towards his

sister and dutiful to his mother. However despite this, there is continued

rivalry between him and Grant. We also see sadistic traits emerge, he bullies

his step son, Ian and seems to derive pleasure from this. He struggles to

bond with his son at times emotionally abuses him. In regards to intimate

relationships, both brothers are physically and verbally violent towards women

and are often not able to give them the emotional security needed to sustain

those relationship. Using Bowen’s transgenerational theory, which focuses on

how the past affects the present it is clear that Phillip and Grant both

developed patterns of behaving and responding to stress similar to those

displayed by their father. Goldrick (2007) says that events that occur in one

generation tend to repeat themselves in the next generation at times

exhibiting different forms of behaviour. Grant who had a close relationship

with his father, has a very close relationship with his daughter. It can be

hypothesised that Phillip’s inability to bond with his son is as a result of his

abuse by his own father and that both brothers’ treatment of women mirrors

their late father’s treatment of his wife. Due to the unsettled environment and

conflict within the family, Grant departs to live in Spain. The Bowenian theory

of being “emotionally cut off” applies to Grant’s actions. Bowen views the

person who runs away from home as being emotionally attached as the one

who stays home and uses internal mechanisms to control the attachment.

From Grant’s perspective emotionally cutting off would help him manage his

unresolved issues with his family.

One of the ideas brought by the systems theory into the world of family

therapy is that of circular causality. Barker’s (1998) view is that events like

the behaviours of family members are better understood in relation to circular

causality than linear causality. Phillip always managed his alcohol abuse

when there was peace at home but when there was conflict arose between

him and his mother, she who would go to Grant for support, which would lead

to Phillips ‘s relapse. It would be easy to identify the problem as lying with

Phillip but from a family therapy point of view where the circular process is

occurring, the family system is the problem. The family’s belief and narrative

are embedded in the honour of the family, they are all very protective of each

other and believe that as a system they are a force to be reckoned with. The

family script is that no-one messes with the Mitchells. This is what the

Mitchell subsystems believe and the supra subsystem reinforce to them.

Peggy’s hierarchy and control of the community is based on this narrative.

Narrative therapy is a derived from social contructionism i.e. the notion that
the way people experience themselves in a situation is constructed through

culturally mediated social interactions.

In doing this assignment, I took the role of a family therapist and was

overwhelmed by its dysfunctional state. Minuchin’s theory requires that a

therapist identifies the processes and boundaries that operate the subsystems

and coalitions in a family. In this family, the boundaries are diffuse thereby

restricting any constructive change to take place. An initial glance of the

genogram had made me ponder if the problem of alcoholism in my subsytem

and supra subsytem could have been due to any of the factors identified in

this family. In the Mitchell family there is enmeshment where everyone is into

everyone’s business. The thoeries that have been mentioned in this

assignment including those that have not been discussed overlap with each

other and make it difficult for deciding which model would best suit this family.

REFERENCES.

• Bowen, Murray. Family Therapy in Clinical Practice. Northvale, NJ: Jason

Aronson, 1978.
• Titelman, Peter, ed. Emotional Cutoff: Bowen Family Systems Theory
Perspectives. New York: The Haworth Clinical Practice Press, 2003.