‘Oh no! Not the Smiths again!’ An exploration of how to identify and overcome ‘stuckness’ in family therapy

‘Oh no! Not the Smiths again!’ An exploration of how to identify and overcome ‘stuckness’ in family therapy

“…Even if the therapeutic system has been correctly formed initially it may yet become stuck. Our second paper (Carpenter et al, 1982) will explore forms of stuckness which can be more directly related to the therapeutic system and the structure of supervision and support within which the therapist works.…”

“…In our second paper, which follows, we examine the workings of the therapeutic system itself and try to understand the ways in which such a system, even when correctly convened and 'engaged' can nevertheless become comprehensively stuck at a later stage (Carpenter et al, 1982).…”

An integrated approach to dysfunction in interprofessional systems

“…Dimmock and Dungworth (1983) argue that systemic interventions well beyond the scope of classical family therapy should be part of the activities of family therapists working within social work departments. These views are echoed by Treacher and Carpenter (1982) and by Carpenter et al (1983) in their work on 'stuckness' in family therapy which highlights various ways in which contextual and inter-professional issues may contribute to various forms of therapeutic impasse. Received 8 July 1983. In this paper we will focus on dysfunction in inter-professional systems and will argue that it is important to develop an integrated approach to understanding such dysfunction.…”

Orthodoxy in family therapy practice as servant or tyrant

“…However, the practitioner can all too easily be swayed towards rejecting the wisdom of 'the old models'. Therapy with a family may well founder for the reasons described elsewhere (Treacher and Carpenter, 1982;Carpenter et al, 1983;Anderson and Stewart, 1983), but at the risk of extreme over-simplification, a fundamental source of 'stuckness' will always rest in the therapist not starting where the family is in its beliefs about the problem, and thinking about the nature of their difficulties. Restricted models of therapy and/or normal family functioning, only limit the therapist's effectiveness.…”