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psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...
, systemic therapy seeks to address people not only on the individual level, as had been the focus of earlier forms of therapy, but also as people in relationships, dealing with the interactions of groups and their interactional patterns and dynamics.


History

Systemic therapy has its roots in
family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relation ...
, or more precisely family systems therapy as it later came to be known. In particular, systemic therapy traces its roots to the Milan school of Mara Selvini Palazzoli, but also derives from the work of Salvador Minuchin, Murray Bowen, Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, as well as Virginia Satir and
Jay Haley Jay Douglas Haley (July 19, 1923 – February 13, 2007) was one of the founding figures of brief and family therapy in general and of the strategic model of psychotherapy, and he was one of the more accomplished teachers, clinical supervisors, an ...
from MRI in
Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...
. These early schools of family therapy represented therapeutic adaptations of the larger interdisciplinary field of
systems theory Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
which originated in the fields of biology and physiology. Early forms of systemic therapy were based on
cybernetics Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...
. In the 1970s this understanding of
systems theory Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
was central to the structural (Minuchin) and
strategic Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
(Haley, Selvini Palazzoli) schools of family therapy which would later develop into systemic therapy. In the light of
postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...
critique, the notion that one could control systems or say objectively "what is" came increasingly into question. Based largely on the work of anthropologists
Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. His writings include ''Steps to ...
and
Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...
, this resulted in a shift towards what is known as " second-order cybernetics" which acknowledges the influence of the subjective observer in any study, essentially applying the principles of cybernetics to cybernetics – examining the examination. As a result, the focus of systemic therapy (ca. 1980 and forward) has moved away from a modernist model of linear causality and understanding of reality as objective, to a postmodern understanding of reality as socially and linguistically constructed.


Practical application

Systemic therapy approaches problems practically rather than analytically. It seeks to identify stagnant patterns of behavior within a living system - a group of people, such as a family. It then addresses those patterns directly, without analysing their cause. Systemic therapy does not attempt to determine past causes, such as subconscious impulses or childhood
trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source *Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic inju ...
, or to diagnose. Thus, it differs from psychoanalytic and psychodynamic forms of
family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relation ...
(for example, the work of
Horst-Eberhard Richter Horst-Eberhard Richter (28 April 1923 – 19 December 2011) was a German psychoanalyst, psychosomatist and social philosopher. The author of numerous books was also regarded by many as the ''große alte Mann'' of the Federal German Peace moveme ...
). A key point of this postmodern perspective is not a denial of absolutes. Instead, the therapist recognises that they do not hold the capacity to change people or systems. Their role is to introduce creative "nudges" which help systems to change themselves: While family systems therapy only addresses families, systemic therapy also addresses other systems. The systemic approach is increasingly used in business, education, politics, psychiatry, social work, and family medicine.Arist von Schlippe and Jochen Schweitzer, ''Lehrbuch der Systemischen Therapie und Beratung'' (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) 1998, pp 245-261. For the field of family medicine see also Susan H. McDaniel, et al
''Medical Family Therapy: A Biopychosocial Approach to Families with Health Problems''
(New York: Basic Books) 1992 pp 26-35


See also

* List of therapies *
Systems theory Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
*
Family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relation ...
*
Systemic coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a '' coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''co ...
* Systems psychology


References

{{Authority control Family therapy
Therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many differe ...