Symbolic action methods: how systemic team consultation can help to strengthen the self‐concept of teams and foster team cohesion

Abstract

This article describes a workshop format including three symbolic action methods, i.e. the ‘who is who sculpture’, the ‘walking through a team’s history’ technique and the ‘speech chorus’ for use in systemic team consultation. The described action methods are suited for work with large teams and small organisations. They help team members to quickly understand their internal diversity and develop a joint sense of the team’s history, hence strengthening the team’s self‐concept and fostering team cohesion. Teams are thereby enabled to find ways out of experienced states of collective depression or anxiety. If combined with large group approaches such as appreciative inquiry or open space (Owen, 2000), such a workshop can help teams and organisations to move from their present situation towards a shared vision for a desired future. The workshop and its methods have been carried out and evaluated in many systemic therapy teams and small clinical and welfare organisations in Germany, China and the UK, as well as at conference workshops in the US and Russia.Practitioner points Three Tools to “make teams and small organizations swing” Integrated into a one‐day‐ workshop fostering systemic organizational self reflection Conducted in Germany, China, Russia, the US and the UK

Effects of a Sociodrama-based Communication Enhancement Program on Mothers of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Pilot Study

“…In line with previous research [48], this program was able to help participants unload their parenting burden by encouraging them to express their emotions and difficulties verbally, thereby sharing their experiences with other parents. The fact that the participants were all caregivers of children with developmental disorders stimulated interactions within the group, providing an outlet for them to share real-life experiences [49], thereby alleviating their parenting burden. These findings were also partially supported by a study in which informal support, rather than formal support from the government, was effective in reducing parenting burden for parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders [7].…”

“…The upbeat ambience created by interventions using action methods, including sociodrama, assists individuals in achieving self-reflection during group programs, helping them become more aware of problems [49]. Similarly, the SCEP may have been effective since sociodrama was used to develop communication skills by helping parents specifically express needs and recognize their children's needs in situations of conflict, differentiate between thoughts and feelings, and listen effectively.…”

The tetralemma of the business family

“…This article complements earlier applications of the tetralemma (Jayatilleke, 1967; Varga von Kibéd, 2006; Sparrer, 2007; Kleve, 2011; 2019, von Schlippe and Schweitzer, 2015; Roth, 2017a, b; Schweitzer and Drews, 2018)—a figure of thought of ancient Indian logic for solving dilemmas—to dilemmas in a broader organizational context, and thus aims to develop a conceptual framework that facilitates the selective and agile navigation of family-business tensions without dissolving them or blurring their boundaries. The article, therefore, combines the tetralemma approach with key elements of systems theory (Luhmann, 1995; 2012, 2018) to understand and show how the fundamentally different logics and operational modes of families and businesses may co-exist and be managed such that they appear as functional for both systems.…”

Recognizing oneself in the encounter with others: Meaningful moments in systemic therapy for social anxiety disorder in the eyes of patients and their therapists after the end of therapy

“…The therapy mainly took place in individual sessions, some with significant others (e.g. family, partner, close friends) “aiming at (re-)establishing a solution- and resource-oriented understanding of the interactional processes within the affected social systems” and a special expanded group therapy session [ 36 , 37 ].…”