Overview
Satir experiential family therapy was developed by the American family therapist Virginia Satir during the 1950s and 1960s, partly while she worked at the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto. Because it aims at the growth of individuals and families rather than merely removing symptoms, it is also called the growth model. It belongs to the family systems tradition in treating the family as a system, but it is a humanistic approach that stresses the therapist's warmth, emotional experience and self-worth. Satir's communication stances are also covered in family communication theory.
Basic assumptions
- Everyone already has the internal resources to grow and change.
- The problem is not the problem; coping is the problem.
- Low self-worth produces dysfunctional communication and family rules, and a symptom signals the family's pain.
- Therapy focuses on present experience and positive directions rather than analyzing the past.
Communication stances
Satir described five ways of communicating under stress, depending on whether one discounts self, other or context.
- Placating: discounts self and pleases others.
- Blaming: discounts others and finds fault.
- Super-reasonable: discounts self and others and speaks only of rules and logic.
- Irrelevant: discounts self, others and context and distracts.
- Congruent: respects all three, with words, feelings and behavior matching; this is the goal of therapy.
The personal iceberg
The Satir model likens a person's inner life to an iceberg. Beneath visible behavior lie coping, feelings and feelings about feelings, perceptions (thoughts and beliefs), expectations, yearnings and, deepest of all, the Self (life force, spirituality). Through questioning, the therapist explores these layers so the client can notice unmet expectations and yearnings and make new choices.
Main techniques
- Family sculpting: family members are physically positioned to show distance and posture in their relationships, making them visible.
- Family reconstruction: three generations of the family of origin are re-enacted through role play so that parents can be understood as people and old learning can be reframed.
- Family maps and the wheel of influence: charts of the family and other people who shaped one's development.
- Building self-worth: activities such as the self mandala and the parts party (acknowledging and integrating inner parts).
Goals and evaluation
The goals are higher self-worth, congruent communication and becoming a person who chooses and takes responsibility. Its warm, experiential techniques are widely used in counseling and education, but critics note vague concepts, limited outcome research and heavy reliance on the therapist's personal skill. It is usefully compared with structural family therapy, which addresses structure, and Bowen theory, which addresses differentiation.
See also: Eco-map and Genogram
References
- Satir, V. (1964). Conjoint Family Therapy: A Guide to Theory and Technique. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
- Satir, V. (1972). Peoplemaking. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
- Satir, V., Banmen, J., Gerber, J., & Gomori, M. (1991). The Satir Model: Family Therapy and Beyond. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.