Salvador Manuchin
Salvador ManuchinGeneral systems theories emerged in the biological and social sciences following World War II. This led to the conceptualization of the individual as an interdependent part of larger social systems. Systemic therapy does not focus on how problems start, but rather on how the dynamics of relationships influence the problem. The therapist's goal is to alter the dynamics of the relationships rather than to focus only on the behavior or internal dynamics of individuals. For example, if a child is having temper tantrums, attention would be given to the stage of family development, the quality of communication between its members, and the clarity and flexibility of family roles. In the family, the executive subsystem is that of the parents; the sibling subsystem is that of the children. Invisible boundaries--unspoken rules about who does what with whom--are drawn around each (and around the immediate family itself) so that each subsystem can carry out its family-stabilizing tasks while remaining connected to the others.
One of the most common family problems is a weak boundary between subsystems. A woman making several calls a day from work to instruct her teenagers on how to dress for school, what to say when they turn in homework, and so forth indicates over-involvement with the sibling subsystem; a man who calls or visits his mother every time he argues with his wife shows a weak boundary between the immediate and extended families. In therapy it's quite common to see a little boy suddenly make everyone laugh at precisely the moment the therapist is asking the uncomfortable parents how their marriage is going. Without knowing it, the boy, usually prompted by some subtle signal from his parents, protects the family by taking the heat off them and their fragile relationship. The therapist, seeing the family operating as a whole (self-preservation through distraction) rather than as isolated individuals (Mom, Dad, the son),
might then comment. In alcoholic families the member who drinks controls the whole family with his/her behavior. His/Her unavailability, bad health, violence, unpredictability, and self-contempt distort every interaction between family members.
The whole family learns to adapt itself to his/her drinking with maneuvers like denial, bailing him out of jail if he drinks and drives, calling in sick for him if he's hung over, walking carefully when he's drunk and angry, unconsciously nominating one child to stand in for him and parent the family. Family therapists use the term �IP�, meaning Identified Patient, because a dysfunctional family member generally means a destabilized family system. Whatever its components, unresolved stress between parents reverberates down through all family interrelations and normally results in coalitions, emotional parent-child alignments against the other parent and perhaps other children. For example a mom is a verbally abusive, so when she explodes, dad and brother console one another and perhaps agree that �she's nuts�. A linear approach would emphasize mom's upbringing and lack of anger management skills...
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