Internal Family Systems Therapy is a therapeutic approach that addresses the problems generated in family relationships or significant people’s lives.
It is understandable that families and those in very close relationships sometimes struggle because of their differences or feel tension when loved ones are in trouble. The idea of family therapy is to work through these issues through family members and loved ones to help empathize with others.
According to Minuchin (2009), Internal Family Systems Therapy is based on the following principles.
– The psychic life of an individual is not exclusively an internal process.
Modifications in family structure contribute to the production of behavior changes and the members of that system’s internal psychic processes.
– When a therapist deals with a patient or patient’s family, his behavior is included in that context.
In which cases can Internal Family Systems Therapy be Applied?
Couples, work teams, school contexts, families, and individuals can apply systemic concepts and therapeutic methods and techniques. What is differentiating is that the emphasis is placed on the dynamics of communicational processes. By working with the family members or the group to be dealt with, a change in the dynamics and systems of interaction among its members is encouraged, taking advantage of the strengths of existing ties and empathy towards the other’s needs.
How it’s Revolutionizing Mental Health Treatment?
Structural family therapy is action therapy. This therapy aims to fix the present, not to explore and interpret the past. The past influenced the creation of the family’s current organization and functioning; therefore, it manifests itself in the present and may change through manifestations (Minuchin, 2009).
By working together with the family, all members can understand and appreciate each other’s needs. Please take advantage of the family’s strengths and ultimately make functional changes in their lives and relationships. Contextual or Third Generation Therapies, such as Internal Family Systems Therapy, are revolutionizing psychology in behavior therapy.
The psychotherapist associates himself with the family system and uses his person to transform it. By changing the position of the members of the system, their subjective experiences change. To this end, the psychotherapist relies on some properties of the system. First, a transformation of its structure will allow at least some possibility of change. Second, the family system is organized based on its members’ support, regulation, feeding, and socialization. Therefore, the psychotherapist joins the family not to educate or socialize it but rather to repair or modify its functioning so that it can carry out its tasks more effectively (Minuchin, 2009).
Third, the family system has self-perpetuating properties. Therefore, the psychotherapist initiates within the family are kept in his absence by the latter’s mechanisms of self-regulation. In other words, once a change has occurred, the family will preserve it, providing a different matrix and modifying the feedback that continually qualifies or validates the experiences of its members (Minuchin, 2009).
Suppose you have concerns or questions or are unsure if Internal Family Systems Therapy is right for you. Do not hesitate to request more information or make an appointment. Intensive Therapy Retreats is here to help you, and we will be delighted to do so.
