Reflection from a Novice to Intermediate: Systemic Family Therapy - Essay Example

Being a therapist is a profession that is bound to change a therapist over time. From the time I was a novice to the field of systemic family therapy to today, when I have reasonably arrived at the intermediate level, a lot of changes have occurred in the way I think, the way I view the world and relationships, the way I connect with sessions and how I interact. And the good thing is that this is not the end of change. Though I respect human individuality, still over time I have come to hold that life and human relationships are primarily about interdependence (Minuchin 1974).

In isolation, everybody will be perfect. It is only when people come together to constitute families, teams and groups, that problems arise (Minuchin 1998). So, to some extent I now think that it will be safe to conclude that psychological health has a meaning and relevance only in the context of interdependence. It is only when individuals start visualizing and accepting responsibilities in a family or group context that happiness seems possible. Will sound hackneyed, but yes, man is indeed a social animal (Haley 1991).

Thus, family atmosphere and interpersonal relationships are essentially an undeniable part of an individual’s psychological health. One of my other personal beliefs that have changed over time is that earlier I used to think that individual and family problems cannot be resolved without delving into the deep seated emotional and psychological conflicts and motivations (Becvar & Becvar 2008). Now I think that a more pragmatic approach is to bypass the deep seated emotional problems for the time to focus on the aberrations in the interaction patterns and dynamics so as to pick up the issues which if changed could restore a cooperative bent of mind in a family (Winek 2009).

I do not deny the relevance of deep seated emotions. However, practically speaking, before an individual or family could try to work on the deep seated emotions, it is more imperative to create the requisite space and harmony, where it is possible to do so (Lorraine & Leahey 1994) . Sometimes, identifying and working on select behaviour patterns and habits could go a long way in creating positively conducive if not the right kind of family atmosphere. This gives the involved individuals an opportunity to work on the more serious and deep seated issues.

One of my other strongly held belief as a novice, which today, in retrospect, makes me giggle if not burst into uproarious laugher is a firm faith in the efficacy of objective thinking. When a novice, I used to think that one could always think one’s way out of individual and family problems. To extrapolate, from the perspective of a family therapist, the outcome of an objective and linear approach towards issues ought to be more fruitful, given one’s knowledge and expertise. Today, as an intermediate, I am more humble and restrained.

Now, as an intermediate, I do not believe that I can always make people think their way out of individual or family problems. I am more tolerant of my limitations as a systemic family therapist. Family interaction patterns and dynamics originate from a range of causes and conditions, which in turn are caused by some other range of causes and conditions (Steven & Sprenkle 1995). So, to claim or try to grip a fool proof and specific cause of the problems of an individual or family will be to try to have a grip over some unwieldy chain reaction.

At the most, what I could and should do as a family therapist is to observe the communication dynamics of a family, as they interact in a session, to pick up some relevant abrasive habits or patterns, which if changed or altered could help a family move forward (Carr 1997). Yes, further experience will certainly make me better at this. Yet, I will always have to retain an attitude of humility to be useful. As an intermediate, I know that the most vital skill that could make or mar