theory of change/psychodynamic
Change occurs through insight and understanding of early, unresolved issues.
Past Influences the Present:
Early wounding relationships, or patterns from these relationships are unconsciously replicated in current relationships.
Underlying Conflicts:
Infants and children all form attachment relationships with their caregivers (some are secure and healthy, some are insecure, avoidant, ambivalent, etc.) These patterns are repeated in
adult relationships causing perpetual conflict, failed relationships o
Defense Mechanisms:
Inability to solve problems, high frustrations, lots of conflict, difficulty moving forward in life, difficulty maintaining close relationships with other adults.
Introject
image children carry in their minds of their parents that are projected into relational partners
Projection
the process of casting off one's own bad object onto another in a relationship in order recapture feeling good
Projective identification
the process of the recipients of the projected object identifying with it and living with it
transference
the perception or identity of one person is transferred onto another, such as seeing one's spouse as if they were one's parent
the dirty middle
refers to a situation where only one person in a conflict can get what they want
resolution of negative aspects of repressed objects
you no longer hate your mother and therfore you stop hating your spouse because they remind you of your mother
interpretation
like psychoanalysis the therapist reads their own experience and the family's behavior and interprets possible meanings
magical meanings
unrealism or irrational meanings of roles or behaviors within families that keep families stuck
emotional holding
the process early in the therapy when the therapist experiences the emotional experience of the family in order to experience, gather, and assess subconscious information for later use in interpretation.
transitional object
objects invested with power to nurture as substitute for parental object helping child to self-soothe and learn to receive nurture apart from parent object.
Negative capability
refers to where the family is blocked or struggles relationally
Collusion
subconscious cooperation of family members to protect or defend an individual or idea within a family system
Spitting
when one family member is projected as all good and another family member is projected as all bad or when one sees oneself as all good an then flips to see themselves as all bad
engagement stage
get the family talking
projection identification stage
where the introjects are exposed and identified
confrontation
introjects are interpreted and exposed
termination
when the family group can do for themselves what they need to do