Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
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formation
Alexandra Piotrowska MSc , CTA, , PTSTA (P)
Workshop at IDTA event in Putteridge Bury October 2010
♦ After Break: How these systems are re- created in workplace – any small
group , class at school , managerial board, team at work. What are the
signals for diagnosis Damage, displacement, blockage or imbalance
“People learn group dynamics when they are very ,very young”
Berne 1961
You didn’t even realize you were learning “all that stuff” (roles / rules), You had nothing
else to compare with so the “family way” was the “right way”, Like the language you
talked, it seemed (and probably still does) “natural”
♦ Family is a Constellation which consists of parents, children, extended
family members bonded together ,by invisible forces
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Family definitions Merriam Webster Dictionary
♦ Biological focused on Nature: a group of persons of common ancestry
: clan My– Ancestry - Bonds of blood , biological / genetical/ heritage
1 PURPOSE
Primary purpose of Family is Survival and Care and primary purpose of any
group is survival
2 STRUCTURE -WHAT
♦ Boundaries
These rules are communicated through not only what they SAY, but also
what they DO.
Spoken messages (what you’re told) _ May often conflict with -Unspoken rules –
(learned by experience) _ Never told (often not acknowledged) you “just know
“Key = denial & secrets
The " invisible lines of separation" that indicate who is in and who
is out of a system.
In all families, there are invisible barriers that surround and to an extent
insulate all individuals and subsystems.
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2. Rigid: disengagement within and between systems _________
1. Spousal/Partner subsystem
2. Parental subsystem
4. Siblings Subsystem
♦ Subsystems
Smaller units in the larger system which share the characteristics of the
larger system . Subsystems are defined by interpersonal boundaries and
unspoken rules for interactions
♦ Hierarchies – power
All families have some sort of hierarchical structure to which parents have
greater authority than children.
Egalitarian
Triangulation, Triangles, Normal tendency – we all “do it” when there is anxiety
Can be stabilizing or de-stabilizing –_ Depending……
To whom to you turn when there is anxiety in an intimate relationship?”
Examples affair, Hobby, Hospital, Church ,
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“Cut offs” When emotional level is too intense, some people just break-away
from the family – “cut off “all relationships. Need to make or keep cut-off
indicates ongoing strong emotions & issues
Things are not solved, just hidden Problem: often those issues get played out in
current relationships
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FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS
♦ Balancing closeness and distance (process) Balancing between
independence and relatedness. Efforts to balance autonomy versus.
Inclusion, connection and partition
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1.Bonding family
The members like to have contact with other family members, and it
feels good when they do. The family takes pleasure in one another.
They have fun together, but they also have rules, and if someone
doesn't abide by the rules, he or she will hear about it.
In a bonding family, you have people who are helpfully cooperating and
relating with one another, while at the same time maintaining a
sense of self.
Characteristics of Well-adjusted Families (Fogarty, 1976a): research
2 Ruling family.
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Extreme proclivity
Here each member stands
alone, independent.
In such families,
relatedness is usually
harsh or nonexistent. To
children from these units,
the idea of family is a
joke.
♦ 4.Protecting family
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extreme group cohesion
♦ 5. Symbiotic family
covert conflict;
reactive emotional distance;
physical or emotional symptoms (usually the more accommodating
partner);
projection of problems on to children.
Links with TA
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too much Independence ---------------------------------------------------too much
Relatedness
Alienated More
Relationshi Self - Balanced Engulfment
Individuals Relationsh
p Centred ip than enmeshment
Self
Individualit
I am right I am right Different I am not WE think
y You are opinions sure what as a group
wrong You think
CP - AC CP - AC
CP - AC NP- AC
Preferred AC-AC P –P, P-C AC- AC
Communica rebellious A-A, C- P pleasing
tion mode C-C , A-C
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Look at Boundaries (or they lack)
Clarify boundary issues (disengagement and enmeshment)
Challenge Group norms
Help them with New Rules
Increase Awareness and Introduce New Choices
Help them with a New Purpose
Reframing the context or effectiveness of their output, Using Paradoxical
Interventions
♦ Identify at least one thing from family theories that surprised you
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♦ Identify at least one thing that confirmed something you already knew
about how groups / families operate.
♦ Identify one concept that you believe you can apply to your own practice
Bibliography
♦ Berne Eric 1963 Random House Publishing Group, ISBN 0345320255 (0-
345-32025-5)
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