Observationally based coding systems represent one major source of information regarding the process of family therapy, the nature of change mechanisms, and the necessary components of intervention manuals. In this article, the authors introduce a two-dimensional framework for organizing the diverse approaches to observational coding that currently exist. These dimensions focus on the information used in identifying the coding unit and the degree of inference involved in assigning a code (i.e., meaning) to that unit. The goal in developing this framework is to provide a common basis on which observationally based family therapy process research initiatives can be developed, compared, and integrated.Family therapy process research has not only come of age-it is thriving! In addition to consistent representation in major journals, several major reviews and proposed models have dealt with issues of context (
This study focused on the process of therapy with families of delinquent adolescents. Results demonstrated differential effects of functional family therapists' behaviors on family members' positivity-negativity as a function of family member role (i.e., mother, father, adolescent). More important, the data indicated that only following a therapist reframe was the adolescent's average response in the nonnegative range; following all other classes of therapist statement (i.e., frame, acknowledgment, pacer, prompt, other) the adolescent's average response valence was negative. Given the clinical importance of resistance and negativity in first therapy sessions, these results support the utility of (positive) cognitive restructuring techniques with conflicted, negative families.
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