When you think a person could benefit from therapy, there might be more to happening below the surface, as their behaviors are typically just a piece of the bigger puzzle. Family therapy is a way of looking at and treating a person's challenges. Salvador Minuchin was one of the leading experts in the field, as Minuchin was one of the creators of Structural Family Therapy.
Who Is Salvador Minuchin?
Salvador Minuchin is credited with changing the process of how family therapy works. Minuchin's past provided him with many examples of how the dynamics of a family routinely change and have an impact on the way the family can function. Salvador Minuchin's family was involved, strict, and fair, and worked together to support one another. Salvador Minuchin witnessed a change in the hierarchy of his family when his father lost his business, and Minuchin's uncle took over as the figurative head of the household when he wasn't present.
Salvador Minuchin attended medical school planning on becoming a practicing pediatrician. However, Salvador Minuchin ended up enlisting as a physician for the Israeli army in 1948. After serving, Minuchin studied child psychology in New York before returning to Israel with his wife. Minuchin worked to help disturbed children, many of whom were survivors of the holocaust. After several years, Minuchin returned to the United States with a plan to become a psychoanalyst. However, while working at a school for troubled children, Minuchin noticed something with New York children living in poor neighborhoods. The treatments that they were taught to use were ineffective in reaching these children. Salvador Minuchin and a group of other therapists began to look for a different solution
What Did Salvador Minuchin Discover?
When Salvador Minuchin started, therapists were using more of a sit back and listen approach. According to Psychology Today, "Minuchin came to realize that successfully treating children and adolescents requires the support and cooperation of parents and other family members. Minuchin felt that the root of most childhood problems is not within the child but the family unit. Therefore, to change the child's behavior, the therapist must help change the family dynamics."
Where individual therapy is focused on the individual in therapy and their behaviors, family therapy focuses on the dynamics of the family as a whole and the impact that it has on the individual. Salvador Minuchin saw the impact that family life played on the individual. Minuchin also noticed that using the approach of sitting back and listening to the family was not working to help the family improve their behavior.
In the 1960s, Salvador Minuchin developed Structural Family Therapy. The form of therapy is useful when providing treatment for at-risk children and families. This includes single-parent families, blended families, extended families, and those that face difficult socio-economic situations. The purpose of this type of treatment is to find and change the disruptive behaviors that exist within a family unit. Then, the therapist works with the family members to learn and practice new and healthy behaviors including establishing proper boundaries.
These are smaller groups that exist within the family. Each group serves its specific purpose. The main groups include:
Each person can belong to multiple groups. A married woman with children is a wife to her husband, mother to her children, and daughter to her parents. If she has siblings, then she also belongs to a siblings sub-system. When one of these groups intrudes into another group, it causes dysfunction within the family. For example, when children are constantly intruding in the spousal sub-system, it can cause problems within the marriage. Or, when in-laws are overstepping their role and becoming too involved with the raising of children, it can throw off the family dynamics.
Another issue that can happen is when a new sub-system is formed and excludes others in the family. An example of this would be when one parent and one child have a special bond, and they allow that to cause them to exclude other members of the family.
Every family has rules that establish the routines of the family structure. Family members understand these rules even though they may be unspoken. When the rules are healthy, and the entire family is on the same page, this can build trust within the family. It can lead to good communication and allow family members to support one another properly. Therapists can see the family structure as they watch the way the family group interacts with each other and how they talk to one another. By doing this, they are also able to observe the hierarchical structure of the family. From this, they can see who holds the authority within the family.
Boundaries are what regulate what is allowed to enter the sub-systems. They help dictate what is allowed to occur within the family. Healthy boundaries help protect the family, and a lack of boundaries can destroy sub-systems. There are three types of boundaries:
When Salvador Minuchin developed Structural Family Therapy, it was to help the family recognize the interactions among family members and make the changes they need to improve behavior. The therapists should help to establish healthy boundaries within the family and sub-systems. They also work to establish an appropriate hierarchical structure where the children do not control the parents.
There is a process that the therapist goes through to help the family reach the goals. These include:
Minuchin's work led to the development of a type of family therapy that has helped many family structures function properly. Minuchin's process is present-oriented, focusing on the current problems and addressing them. Therapists help families get organized, create a proper hierarchical structure and boundaries to create a family environment that each member can flourish. It is a way to treat the individual by treating the underlying cause of their troubling behavior. It helps improve multiple people instead of just one individual. Salvador Minuchin has made a lasting impact on family therapy that has helped many individuals — and Minuchin's work will live on for decades to come.
Commonly Asked Questions About Salvador Minuchin
What is minuchin theory?
What did Salvador Minuchin do?
What is the purpose of Salvador Minuchin's approach to family therapy?
Is Salvador Minuchin still alive?
What are the eight concepts of Bowen theory?
What is structural family therapy used for?
How does systemic family therapy work?
Who invented structural therapy?
What are the pros and cons of structural family therapy?
How long does structural family therapy last?
What is Salvador Minuchin Family Therapy?
It's a psychotherapy developed by Minuchin that addresses challenges within a family.
Who is Salvador Minuchin?
Minuchin was born and raised in Argentina, and he developed structural family therapy. Minuchin had a distinct impact on family therapy, and Minuchin's work has been effective since its founding.
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