What we do and don't know about the process of family therapy.

Many of the qualitative research methods developed in the social sciences are well suited to explore research questions pertinent for the systemic field, and make a good fit with systemic thinking. In this paper I briefly outline the value of qualitative research for systemic psychotherapies. I explore some parallel developments in the field of qualitative research and systemic therapy which can inform each other. Three qualitative methodologies, a grounded theory approach, discourse analysis and narrative analysis, particularly useful for the research of subjective experience and meaning, are briefly outlined. To compare and contrast these methodologies, I discuss their application to a pilot study concerning the experiences of living life in more than one language. I demonstrate how each research methodology can highlight different aspects of qualitative research material and address different research questions. The challenge of how these methodologies may be further developed for systemic research is posed.

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Comparing qualitative research methodologies for systemic research: the use of grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis

Burck

2005

Journal of Family Therapy

186

123

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Therapist‐Parent Interaction Patterns in Home‐Based Treatments: Exploring Family Therapy Process

Kemp¹,

Acker

1997

Family Process

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At the current stage of development in the family therapy field, exploratory, small-scale process studies are necessary in order to understand through what interpersonal processes child and family change occur. The goal of this article is to show how relevant therapist-parent interactions within family-based approaches can be explored and linked to the reduction in childrearing and behavior problems. Sequential analyses on 13 treatments using the Family Project Approach revealed that, within the most successful treatments, therapist and parent interact in a collaborative way in the phase of Direct Influence. In the beginning of this treatment phase, the therapist must activate the parents to tackle the problems actively. Further explorations indicated that a collaborative interaction pattern between therapist and mother during the first three sessions of therapy contributes to a better outcome.

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Transforming Narratives: A Change Event in Constructivist Family Therapy

Coulehan¹,

Friedlander

Heatherington

1998

Family Process

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One important clinical task in family therapy involves transforming the client's construction of the presenting problem from an individual, intrapersonal view to an interpersonal, relational, or systemic one (Sluzki, 1992). To study the transformation process in initial sessions, we sampled 8 families in which the referring parent requested help for a child's problem. The 8 therapists, trained and experienced in Sluzki's (1992) narrative approach, attempted to facilitate a transformation in the parents' initial construction of the problem. In 4 sessions, the transformation was independently judged to be successful by the therapist and observers, while in 4 other sessions the transformation was judged to be unsuccessful. Videotapes of the 8 interviews were analyzed qualitatively, and the parents' verbatim descriptions of the problem were coded using the Cognitive Constructions Coding System (Friedlander, 1995). We compared the successful and the unsuccessful sessions and developed a conceptual model of the successful transformation process that included client performances as well as therapist operations (Greenberg, 1986). While many elements in the model were consistent with Sluzki's (1992) "blue-print" transformation, several new elements were added. Practical implications are described, along with limitations and recommendations for future research.

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What we do and don't know about the process of family therapy.

Cited by 10 publications

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Comparing qualitative research methodologies for systemic research: the use of grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis

Comparing qualitative research methodologies for systemic research: the use of grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis

Therapist‐Parent Interaction Patterns in Home‐Based Treatments: Exploring Family Therapy Process

Transforming Narratives: A Change Event in Constructivist Family Therapy

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