The New Contextual Therapy

A Contextual Therapy Framework for MFT Educators: Facilitating Trustworthy Asymmetrical Training Relationships

“…Contextual family therapy, initially developed by Ivan Boszormenyi‐Nagy, is an integrative, intergenerational family therapy framework that focuses on relational strengths or resources and stresses responsible relating. Traditionally it was made up of four dimensions (facts, individual psychology, transactions, and relational ethics; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ), however, later in his life, Nagy developed a fifth dimension called the “ontic” (Ducommun‐Nagy, ). In this approach, health and symptoms are a measure of the level of balance in one's significant relationships (Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ).…”

“…Facts are either unchangeable qualities such a one's sex, cultural heritage, or family history, or changeable qualities such as one's romantic relationship status or physical health (Hargrave & Pfitzer, ; van Heusden & van den Eerenbeemt, ). Individual psychology is one's internal experience including the ways that one feels about and makes meaning of her or his experiences (Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Ulrich, ).…”

“…This article is the product of several years of collaborative reflection about our beliefs, roles, and practices as MFT educators. We provide a conceptual framework for trainers to model responsible behavior and growth‐producing interactions with trainees built upon relational concepts from contextual therapy (Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ; Goldenthal, ; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ). We propose that training can be perceived as an intergenerational process of give‐and‐take in asymmetrical relationships, where trainers nurture trainees' growth and earn constructive entitlement (see Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ) in the process.…”

“…We provide a conceptual framework for trainers to model responsible behavior and growth‐producing interactions with trainees built upon relational concepts from contextual therapy (Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ; Goldenthal, ; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ). We propose that training can be perceived as an intergenerational process of give‐and‐take in asymmetrical relationships, where trainers nurture trainees' growth and earn constructive entitlement (see Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ) in the process. We also explore the potential for trainers to rely on destructive entitlement (see Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ) if they struggle with their work environment or their asymmetrical roles.…”

“…We propose that training can be perceived as an intergenerational process of give‐and‐take in asymmetrical relationships, where trainers nurture trainees' growth and earn constructive entitlement (see Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ) in the process. We also explore the potential for trainers to rely on destructive entitlement (see Boszormenyi‐Nagy & Krasner, ; Hargrave & Pfitzer, ) if they struggle with their work environment or their asymmetrical roles. Finally, we provide detailed examples to illustrate how trainers can use contextual techniques in interactions with trainees that model how they can act responsibly in similar positions of asymmetrical power with clients and future trainees.…”