Adapting Virginia Satir Techniques to Hispanic Families

Abstract

This article analyzes the application of Virginia Satir's model of family therapy to Hispanic clients based on consultation with expert clinicians and a literature review. To better serve the therapeutic needs of Hispanic families, the article proposes an adaptation of Satir's concepts and techniques (family map, family life chronology, family rules, ropes, communication stances, and sculpting) that incorporate Hispanic cultural and contextual factors.

Effects of Marriage Preparation Per Satir’s Communication Model and Narrative Therapy on Empathy and Emotional Expression in Single Young Adults

“…In such an environment, family members avoid each other, and such behaviors reflect and perpetuate family inefficiency. Satir considers the solution to such a situation to be the emphasis on expressing emotions and repairing the defective structures of the family (Bermudez 2008).…”

“…According to Satir, if the relationship between couples generates something new and interesting, they will feel alive, which leads to the development of a better and deeper relationship between them. Moreover, each party feels better about himself/herself and the other (Bermudez 2008;Banmen 2002); accordingly, it makes the couples empathize in married life.…”

Multicultural family therapy.

“…Some examples include effective feminist family therapy with a Chinese family within a Confucius orientation (Tien & Olson, 2003) and with a Latino family using female spiritual icons (Comas-Díaz, 2003). Satir's concepts have been "culturalized" with Chinese (Cheung & Chan, 2002) and Latino families (Bermúdez, 2008). Cheung and Chan (2002) preserved the collectivistic components of Satirian methods that were based on harmony and spirituality and disregarded the constructs that were based on self-determinism and direct communication, whereas Lim and Nakamoto (2008) incorporated Bowenian constructs that supported Confucius' principles.…”