Updated June 02, 2021
Medically Reviewed By: Melinda Santa
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We've all had problems in the family, be it unruly kids, parents, and/or teenagers not respecting each other's boundaries, parents trying to keep their relationship stable for the children, and so on. If you or someone you know has had family troubles, there is no shame in considering family counseling.
With that said, there are many types of family therapies. The one we'll look at is strategic family therapy. Before we look at that, let's look at what family therapy in general is.
What Is Family Therapy?
Family therapy centers around the idea of families being their systems. In the psychological context, the system will interact and have rules in their way, affecting people. The way your parents raise you has quite an influence on how you'll be as an adult.
When it comes to family therapists, they believe that the way families do or do not interact is the main contribution to difficult family dynamics. They'll try to think of ways families can better communicate with each other to have a healthy relationship.
What Is Strategic Therapy?
When you think of the word strategic, what do you think of? Perhaps a general sitting in his quarters, trying to figure out the best way to win the war. Or a coach who is thinking of the best way to win the game. A strategic therapist is not going to ask questions to their clients and hope something sticks. Instead, they're going to think of creative solutions to the problems their clients are experiencing.
They're not interested in just figuring out the cause of the problem. They're going to teach you how to solve the problem that lies in front of you. The strategic therapist isn't going to listen to your problems but instead work with you to find the solution.
Therefore, it's safe to say that strategic family therapy combines these two ideas.
The Steps Of Strategic Therapy
Every counselor will perform strategic therapy in their way, but there are some basic steps that most therapists will follow. Here's the basic outline:
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1. Find Solvable Problems
The therapist will listen to the client's problems and look for doable solutions to those problems. Some issues will take longer to solve than others, but some can be solved easily. The therapists will look for the best solution that can be accomplished with ease.
2. Create Goals
Perhaps the best motivator is the concept of a goal. You reach the end of the goal, and you feel so great. Imagining your accomplishments as a race is perhaps the best way to win, and your therapist will know that. They'll create short and long-term goals.
3. Make A Plan To Accomplish Goals
As we said, a strategic therapist is like a coach, and they'll work with you to formulate the best plan to accomplish the goals. They'll try to tailor the goals according to how the person works. Some people work better with groups, some alone, and others work better with a little help all the time. It all depends.
4. See How They Accomplish Their Goals
A good therapist won't just set goals and push their clients on their merry way. They're going to follow up with their clients and see how they accomplish the goals, or if they're even doing so at all. If there are any hurdles to the goals, the therapists will intervene and figure out a new strategy to accomplish the goals.
5. Success
Once everyone has accomplished their goals, the therapist will get everyone together and talk about how well they did and teach them how to accomplish any future goals.
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Strategic Family Therapy (SFT)
Strategic family therapy, or SFT, takes strategic and family therapies and turns them into a way for families to solve problems and become stronger.
SFT will study how the family interacts and then try to replicate it. The therapist will become the family member as they ask questions and spark debate. The family's problems will soon show like a sore thumb, and the therapist can then point out all the flaws in their interactions. However, where there are flaws, there are also strengths, and a good therapist will use these strengths and use them to the family's advantage.
Everyone likes to pay attention to the negative, and plenty of families don't realize the good in them. By pointing out the good, a therapist can make the family interact with one another better.
Haley's Model Of Family Therapy
Jay Haley, the pioneer of strategic therapy, created family therapy in the '50s. He observed how families interacted and how most psychologists didn't know how to handle them, creating results that were not very effective, especially for dysfunctional families of lower classes.
Haley worked for the next few decades, creating models that were centered around families. He soon created his model of family therapy, and this is the summary of it.
- How individuals develop problems: Haley believed that individuals do not create problems while they're alone but respond to the people around them. Thus, families are the perfect place to develop problems.
- Developing solutions: the therapists will then create ways for the families to solve problems. These solutions will be specific to how the family interacts and how the dynamic family works.
- Studying the family's behavior: the therapist will study how the family behaves. A particular behavior will be scrutinized, and this will then be compared to how the family responds to this behavior.
- The therapy will not be about the person but how the family structure is. The therapists will look at certain family situations and see how the best way to solve them will be. They will then create strategies for the families to help them solve the problems without any fuss.
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5. The change will soon happen. If the therapist is successful, they should help the family eliminate any behaviors or issues tearing them apart. For instance, if the family is dealing with an unruly teenager, they'll create a solution that satisfies both teen and parent.
Is It Effective?
Perhaps the biggest question you want to be answered before you seek therapy is how effective it is. SFT has been around for over half a century, so they are doing something right. It's quite an effective way to solve family issues.
With that said, SFT involves participation from your family as well. The therapist isn't a magician who can wave away your problems with a magic wand; instead, they're going to work with you to create solutions to all your problems. If your family doesn't effort to accomplish those goals, it won't be effective. But by following the strategies your therapist gives you, you'll be surprised at how effective SFT can be.
With that said, you should pick a therapist who has a good rating. Not all therapists are equal, and you'll want one who specializes in SFT. Please read the reviews, make sure they're qualified, and then give them a try.
Some Causes Of Difficult Family Dynamics
Before you seek help, it may be helpful to consider the causes of the difficulties of your family dynamics. Here is a list of common causes of family dysfunction.
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- Parents Are Too Strict: The child believes that the parent's authority is too strong, be it religious, financial, personal, and so on. Sometimes, the child has a point. Other times, the child needs to accept authority. And there are cases where it's a bit of both.
- Parents Aren't Supportive: Be it emotionally or financially. The parent may be too busy with work to talk with their child, resulting in dysfunction.
- Addictive Personalities: The parents may have an addiction to gambling, alcohol, and other substances, leading to family dysfunctions.
These are just a few reasons. You should know if your family is dysfunctional or not, however, and if they are, then you need to
Seek Help!
If your family is dysfunctional, there is no shame in seeking a therapist who can help your family get on the right track. The family is important, and if you keep your family dysfunctional, you may regret it down the line. Having a family that stays together is important, be it the husband and wife or the children.
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So if you have a problem, and none of your family members can think of a solution, talk to a counselor today. They can help you find a solution that you might not have thought about and tell you your family's positives. Thinking positively, and noticing your family's positive traits instead of focusing on the negative, can be a great key to keeping your family together.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is strategic family therapy theory?
Strategic family therapy theory is the idea of a counselor or therapist seeking to diagnose and solve issues that arise from the constantly changing dynamics of a family.
Rather than focusing on specific individuals and solving one person’s problems, strategic family therapy approaches issues by looking at the family as one big entity of interconnected moving parts.
This way, the therapist or counselor can solve problems with the system as a whole, which will, in turn, solve problems for individual family members. The therapist develops a strategic approach to solve specific issues within the family dynamic.
Family therapy combines listening to a family’s problems and creating specific solutions and plans to solve those family issues. Strategic family therapy SFT is an extremely useful approach for families dealing with multiple issues and issues spanning multiple people.
Remember that it is quite common for families to designate one family member as the problem in practice called choosing an “indicated patient.” In the case of an indicated patient, one person in the family outwardly exhibits problems that, in truth, affect everyone. In the case of an indicated patient, the family would actually better benefit from treating the whole family instead of just the one person who may be more outwardly exhibiting the problems affecting everyone.
What is strategic family therapy used for?
Strategic family therapy is a very useful technique that therapists or counselors can use to mitigate family interactions that are harmful to family members more successfully.
This theory relies on the idea that the family functions as a system in which all individuals live. If there are larger, systemic issues within the family dynamic, then the family is a failing system that will cause more individual issues for each family member. Strategic family therapy attacks this problem by better understanding the entire system- all the family dynamics and each member's role, rather than each family member individually.
The strategic approach includes first identifying and defining the major problems within the familial system. Next, therapists seek to develop goal-setting plans and agendas that the family can work on. The goal isn’t to change family relationships but rather to fix issues within the structural family that will lead to better outcomes.
What is the difference between strategic and structural family therapy?
Strategic family therapy is similar to, but not identical to, structural family therapy. To oversimplify a bit, a structuralist tends to look at the family as a whole, as one solid organism. In contrast, a strategic therapist may focus more on a specific symptom, then work with the family members to resolve that symptom.
In strategic family therapy, a therapist develops goals and plans to eliminate the symptoms of issues that arise in a structural family. The ultimate goal is to make each family member happier and healthier by dealing with the issues and, more importantly, the symptoms of problems within a family. Strategic family therapists view family interactions as important on an individual level. They may also focus more on certain things like repeated behaviors and generational trauma than the dynamics between groups in the family.
On the other hand, structural family therapy focuses on resolving the structural issues of the family. They view families as an “organism under stress” that itself needs therapy to function properly. Structural family therapy views families as one system with various subsystems; then, they look to their boundaries. While a strategic family therapist may focus specifically on the presenting symptom, structural family therapists focus on solving structural problems within the family.
Both of these strategies have their roots in aiding families who have a family member dealing with addiction.
Who created Strategic Family Therapy?
The creation of strategic family therapy came about in the 1950s. A psychotherapist named Jay Haley created strategic family therapy as a novel way to help families overcome issues that they may be having. Strategic family therapy combines many aspects of psychology and therapy that existed before but added in the novel concept of the family structure as vital to the individuals within, rather than simply collecting individuals.
What are the key concepts of structural family therapy?
The key concepts of structural family therapy are:
- “Family structure” is how a family is organized into subsystems and how boundaries regulate those subsystems.
- For example, one parent and a child may form something known as a cross-generational coalition, in which a parent and a child form their own alliance and use it to alienate the other parent.
- Boundaries can either be rigid or diffuse. Rigid boundaries exist between people who have very little shared time and instead live separately from one another. Diffuse boundaries exist between very close people, spend a lot of time together, and see themselves as a unit rather than a whole.
- For structural therapy to work, the therapist must join the family dynamic and earn their trust and confidence as part of their structure.
- After “joining the family” in a sense, the therapist may then observe and change their family dynamics for the better.
- Structural family therapists note that problems often arise in moments of flux. This may happen because external pressure is applied, such as an illness in the family or serious money problems. The family reaches developmental transitions, such as when a child graduates school or leaves home or a parent retires. If the family dynamic is healthy, then it can adapt to these changes and better accommodate them. But if the family dynamic is not adaptive, they may lean into existing dynamics, causing them to become more rigid, even though those dynamics are no longer functional. That often means that the family is unable to rally support in moments of crisis or transition. The opposite side of the spectrum of a dysfunctional approach would be a family in which the relationships are too enmeshed. Members of the family become dependent upon one another and are thus unable to adapt to the necessary changes in life.
- The therapist does not need to create new family dynamics but rather activate relationships that may be lying dormant. This will give the family new options for productive interactions and a more solid support system.
The key concepts of structural family therapy are similar to that of strategic family therapy but slightly different. In structural family therapy, family interactions are also still important, but therapists tend to view the family as independent entities. The family structure itself can be thought of as an “organism under stress,” Thus, the therapist is searching to solve problems within the structure of the family itself.
How is behavior therapy different than psychoanalysis?
Behavior therapy is different from psychoanalysis in that therapy generally attempts to ask the client what their problems are and then find solutions. In contrast, psychoanalysis deals more with a therapist digging into the unconscious of the client.
Psychoanalysis involves a deeper-level understanding of the human brain and subconscious, while behavioral therapy focuses more on the individuals' conscious actions.
Both approaches can be very helpful in the right scenario, and consulting a trained medical professional about which types of therapy would be most productive is a very helpful action to take.
What is a systemic approach in family therapy?
The basic idea of a systemic approach in family therapy is that the therapist or counselor will view the family system altogether as a big factor in the family is experiencing. Rather than viewing the problems as an amalgamation of each member’s personal problems, it posits that these problems are exacerbated and often caused by the family system itself.
In strategic family therapy, family systems are viewed as another “character” altogether - and by fixing problems in the family system itself, the other problems of each individual can be reduced.
What are the main differences between Bowenian structural and strategic family systems
theories?
The different theories of family therapy are all relatively similar but differ on some important factors. The Bowenian theory is based on the idea of intergenerational behaviors among family members. These family interactions can be thought of to pass down mental health issues from generation to generation. The structural family approach considers the family itself as an organism that needs attention. The goal is to work out kinks within the family structure itself to help the individual members.
Strategic family therapy is quite similar but with a slightly different approach. Strategic family therapy is based on identifying specific symptoms of problems within the family. For example, a strategic family therapist may identify the main symptom as an alcohol addiction among one of the children in the family. Next, strategic family therapists will create a strategic plan to mitigate the original issue and stop the problem's symptoms.
What are the basic goals of Bowen's approach?
The basic goals of Bowen’s approach are very similar to that of other psychological approaches: find ways to help eliminate interpersonal problems and lead to better lives for each member of the family. The Bowen approach includes insight into intergenerational translation of ideas and mental attitudes. It focuses a lot on the relationships within a family. It understands that how one person feels or acts is immensely influential in how other family members behave and feel.
What is transgenerational family therapy?
Transgenerational family therapy is a broad category of therapies that seek to deal with familial issues that span multiple generations. The therapist seeks to understand generational dynamics and problems to solve better current problems based on the past and improve interactions further in the future. Specifically, the child-parent relationship is often a cause of many issues that may make a family unable to adapt to moments of trauma or transition. Other family interactions, perhaps involving grandparents or other tertiary family members, are also included in these types of therapies.
What is the goal of structural family therapy?
The goal of structural family therapy is to treat the family structure as its own entity. Once the therapist understands the dynamics that exist within the family, they may work with those dynamics to improve the health and happiness of each family member. Structural family therapists do not create relationships within the family but rather awake dormant relationships to make the family more adaptable and supportive. Thinking about the family as an “organism” is very helpful in trying to solve structural problems within the family. Therapists can then analyze the family structure, identify areas that are causing problems, and prescribe therapies to help reduce those issues.
What is the focus of structural family therapy?
Structural family therapy focuses on viewing the family structure as an organism. It doesn’t view the family as a collection of individuals but rather as a living, changing organism that greatly impacts and affects its members. Therefore, therapists can look to find structural issues within the family. Finding and fixing those issues can help with the individual issues of each family member.
