Critique of Family Therapy Approaches

The assignment provides a critique of traditional family therapy approaches, arguing that they are rooted in Eurocentric and patriarchal ideologies. It highlights the importance of social constructionism and cultural sensitivity in family therapy, emphasizing the need for therapists to consider power dynamics and structural constraints in their work with families.

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RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING
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Introduction
The paper is concerned with the succinct discussion and examination of the key ideas
and features of social constructionism and also make an attempt to identify the influence of
different social thinkers in informing social constructionism. Another objective of the essay is
to discuss the variegated approaches to family counselling and therapy that rose from the
discourse of social constructionism. It is important to understand competency and effectives
of family therapy is contingent on the principles of connection, curiosity, collaboration, co-
construction ideas to resolve the issues and the final stage of closure.
Social constructionism
The term social constructionism underscore on the interpretation of the society
through subjective dispositions as well as the objective reality. The origin of social
constructionism as a philosophy is rooted in Sociology. The philosophical tenets of Berger
and Luckmann along with Mead, Schutz and Marx have informed the foundation of social
constructivism. Constructivists are concerned with the creation, negotiation, the persistence
and alteration of meanings. Constructivism has largely been inspired by the ethos of post-
modernism, interpretivism as a theory emerged as a polemic against the philosophy of
scientism. Much like the interpretivists, constructivists also seek to understand social action
through the subjective experience or lived experience of the individual (Lang and Moleski
2016). Weber’s concept of Verstehen is evidently visible in the conceptualization of
constructionism. According to Weber, Verstehen is a sociological analysis that underscore on
the empathetic appreciation of an individual action. Another aspect of Weberian
methodological framework is examination of the motives of the concerned persons in the
execution of their social action. For Weber, the primary thrust was on the causal explanation
of the social action

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Different family counselling approach from the perspective of principles &
ideas of social constructionism
Discursive positioning a concept by Michel Foucault is instrumental in the task of
conceptualization of counselling, as the key focus of discursive positioning is the attention to
relationships. For Bakhtin, the utterances of an individual has no meaning by themselves but
needs to be situated at the larger social context that has been pervasive in the history of
dialogues or is related to a particular conversation. In other words, when an individual is
uttering something to another individual s/he is not just responding to another individual but
it is relation to other conversations. In the light of counselling, it may argued that when a
patient is articulating to the counsellor s/he may be conscious regarding how the utterances
may appear not just to the counsellor but also to other people.
The systematic family theory approach is quite different from the cause and effect
model that is common in psychology and also evident in other sciences. The application of
systematic theory to family counselling approach entails viewing the symptoms of a problem
differently from the usual cause and effect. It has informed the work of practitioners
specializing in family therapy (Desmarouet, and Goldziuk 2014). For example, the problem
faced by Mary may be attributed as a consequence of growing up in a difficult environment,
liberating the sister from the pressure of the family, a way of infusing conflict in the marital
union or as a way of minimizing the tensions emerging in the joint family and the nuclear
family system (Kagitcibasi 2017). It is the discretion of the family therapist to decide on the
degree of intervention and sometimes have to resort to difficult decisions (Brockman 2016).
They are more concerned with engaging in family relationships in the present rather than
focussing on the history of a person in resolving the issues. In Systematic theory, there are no
specific ways in which the family members should participate in the counselling process.

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Another key approach to family counselling is attachment theory. Bowlby and
Ainsworth have credited for the conceptualization of the attachment theory. According to this
theory there is a correlation between the attachment of the mother with the child. Babies who
has sensitive mothers are securely attached to the mother and would cry helplessly on
separation with the mother (Diamond, Russon and Levy 2016). Feeding the infant was
viewed as a passage for harmonious cooperation between the mother and the child.
Individuals who have grown up in stable and peaceful environment have parents who have
been supportive and cooperative. As a corollary, it was stated by Bowlby that the inheritance
of mental health through family is important to understand genetic inheritance.
Milan therapists had to face the problem of being labelled as unethical as they were
often unscrupulous and irresponsible. On the other hand, the structural therapists have also
been at the receiving end of criticism because of their patriarchal worldview and impervious
attitude. During the 1980s, it was the structural family approach that had gained momentum
and many troubled couples and families veered towards this practise. The advocates of the
structural approach identified themselves as the disciples and for them the counsellors
became the gurus.
The narrative approach to counselling emphasize on rejecting the essentialist
understanding of human subjectivity (Hayward 2003). It is believed that the person can
realize their true potential when there is the elimination of problems and a release of catharsis
emotion. The narrative perspective emphasizes that the person’s travails and tribulations in
life are an outcome of their cultural context (Elliott 1997). Counsellors adhering to such an
approach denaturalize certain practises that might be understood as natural to some other
approaches. Recently, family-counselling approaches have witnessed an explosion in the
different approaches like feminist influence and post-modernist influence (Hayward 2003).

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These criticizes the Eurocentric values and the dominance of patriarchal discourse widely
prevalent in the traditional family counselling approaches.
The cognitive behavioural theory is concerned with the counselling of couples who
have been remarried. However, the foundation of the behavioural model is on the ideas of
conscious and unconscious, unexpressed and expressed and the expectation of one partner
from another partner (Winslade 2005). The psycholanalytic model of family therapy is
concerned with the projective identification. In this model, the theorist positions the self and
utilizes the therapists’ understanding of the self in facilitating the therapeutic process. The
practitioners are expected to demonstrate a degree of competence and self-awareness
concerned with the knowledge and skills (Corey 2015). The self in this context is both a
vehicle for the legitimate focus as well as for the therapeutic process. The trauma theory
emphasizes on trauma resulting due to insecure attachments formed during the childhood
(Bachem et al. 2017). The trauma theorists are aware that the occurrences in the therapy
room have the potential to trigger episodes that may stoke mental pain to the patient.
The structural theory of family approach is premised on the clinical encounter of
Minuchin and his associates who worked with families who have been in distress. According
to this approach, the family is viewed as the psychosocial system that is entrenched in the
boarder social system. The activities and duties of the family are carried out in the
demarcated system. These subsystems comprise of individuals on an ephemeral or permanent
lines. Another feature that is intrinsic to the structural theory is that family adaptability and
cohesiveness are traits of a family group. As the family matures and survives through
different life cycle, the dynamics between the expression of individual autonomy and
emotional connectedness witnesses transformation. They emphasize on the effectiveness of
the theory and the formation of a new group comprising of the therapist and the concerned
family (Gurman and Kniskern 2014). There is an emphasis on the planned support for the

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family system, identifying the process of family interaction and the accommodation of the
style of the members of the family through the process of mirroring.
In the words of Hare-Mustin, family therapy is representative of the agenda of the
dominant culture. She found the therapy room analogous to the mirror room as it reflects only
what is being articulated. Therefore, to refine the family therapy framework she advocated
for a discursive approach that would embolden the therapists to appreciate the discourses that
inform their understanding and treatment approach while dealing with the patients and their
family. This critique also debunks the position of psychotherapy as objective and value-
neutral by exposing its role in the spawning and sustenance of norms and values. Hare-
Mustin’s critique of the traditional approaches to family therapy and counselling is
reminiscent of the contentions of Foucault. She recognized power as an important element in
the therapeutic process and the therapists need to identify their role in this discursive process.
Her ideas indicated that family therapy can act as a form of social control thus, underlining
on the postmodernist philosophy. The erstwhile family therapy approaches have been labelled
as Eurocentric, positivist and largely concerned with the western worldview (Hayes 2016).
Currently, there has been increased attention towards the cultural dimensions of therapy.
Social justice advocates have been critical of the inherent power dimension prevalent in the
client-therapist relationship.
Conclusion
Therefore, the above discussion on social constructionism and family therapy
approaches show that there is greater need for the therapist to understand the context of the
individual. The therapist also need to be aware of the problems faced by women owing to the
structural constraints in the family. There has been a considerable change in the approach of

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family therapy that has challenged the western-oriented, Eurocentric and patriarchal
ideologies informing the therapeutic framework.

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References
Bachem, R., Levin, Y., Zhou, X., Zerach, G. and Solomon, Z., 2017. The Role of Parental
Posttraumatic Stress, Marital Adjustment, and Dyadic Self‐Disclosure in Intergenerational
Transmission of Trauma: A Family System Approach. Journal of marital and family therapy.
Brockman, C., Snyder, J., Gewirtz, A., Gird, S.R., Quattlebaum, J., Schmidt, N., Pauldine,
M.R., Elish, K., Schrepferman, L., Hayes, C. and Zettle, R., 2016. Relationship of service
members’ deployment trauma, PTSD symptoms, and experiential avoidance to
postdeployment family reengagement. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(1), p.52.
Corey, G., 2015. Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Nelson Education.
Desmarouet, J. and Goldziuk, M., 2014. Systemic family therapy. Soins. Psychiatrie, (293),
pp.16-19.
Diamond, G., Russon, J. and Levy, S., 2016. Attachment‐Based Family Therapy: A Review
of the Empirical Support. Family process, 55(3), pp.595-610.
Elliott, R., 1997. Therapy with Remarried Couples—A Multitheoretical
Perspective. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 18(4), pp.181-193.
Gurman, A.S. and Kniskern, D.P., 2014. Handbook of family therapy. Routledge.
Hayes, S.C., 2016. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational Frame Theory, and the
Third Wave of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies–Republished Article. Behavior
therapy, 47(6), pp.869-885.
Hayward, M., 2003. Critiques of narrative therapy: A personal response. Australian and New
Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 24(4), pp.183-189.

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Kagitcibasi, C., 2017. Family, self, and human development across cultures: Theory and
applications. Routledge.
Lang, J. and Moleski, W., 2016. Functionalism revisited: architectural theory and practice
and the behavioral sciences. Routledge.
Winslade, J.M., 2005. Utilising discursive positioning in counselling. British Journal of
Guidance & Counselling, 33(3), pp.351-364.