Milan Systemic
Double Blind
"Damned if I do, Damned if I don't"
invariant prescription
Always given at the end of the first session. For example, tell a couple to go off for an evening without telling the children were you are going.
No
Are Milan therapists responsible for change?
circularity
Circular questioning.
second order cybernetics
Conception of the family as one unit
power struggles
Conflict between the part of the family that should be holding the power, and those that really are holding the power.
neutrality
Don't take sides.
Systemic Stages
Entire family present, pre-session, interview, test hypothesis, team discussion, present conclusions, post session, short term therapy
Systemic dysfunction
Family is caught up in a "dirty game", problems are maintained by behavioral sequences, family's old beliefs do not fit current patterns of behavior
faulty interactional patterns
How are symptoms maintained?
circular questions
Interview questions that compare and contrast members behavior
generational boundaries
Like Haley and Madanes, they believe that families should have clear generational boundaries.
hypothesizing
Listen to call when the client first calls, then the team gathers to discuss which focuses the questions and gives direction to the initial session.
attend to beliefs
Looks at meanings.
homeostasis
Maintains status quo.
MRI brief
Milan is most similar to what model?
Systemic Stance
Neutral, hypothesize, perturb the system, indifferent to outcome
Systemic Theorists
Palazzoli, Boscolo, (Cecchin, Prata, Selvini)
symptom behavior is reframed as being helpful to protect families rules. formally presented.
Positive connotation
positive connotation
Similar to a reframe. Any symptom gets a positive spin. "Jenny's throwing tantrums keeps her parents together."
normality
The Milan group, like the MRI, also disdains concepts of "normality."
"neutral"
Therapy should be neutral and not have any expectations of families.
dirty games
Ways families keep power over each other.
preserve homeostasis
What is the function of symptoms?
Negative
What kind of feedback does Milan Systemic take into account?
milan.
Who uses co-therapy groups?
positive connotation
a message to the family from the therapist that the problem is logical and meaningful in its context.
ritual
an ordering of behavior in the family either on certain days, or at certain times.
Systemic attends to:
beliefs rather than behavior
Invariant Prescription
breaks up enmeshment, parents go away together away from children, come back with "secrets"
Systemic change
develop alternative beliefs by creating an environment in which new info is introduced into the family.
Change is:
happening, they just need to see it
family games
hidden power struggles within a family system.
paradox
is the oscillation that is set up between 'win' and "lose" positions. Originally termed double bind by Bateson.
Positive Connotation*
paradoxical reframing, each fam members contribution to the problem is reframed as useful, beneficial, functional
Systemic assessment
pre-meeting info used for hypothesis, hypothesis leads directly to interventions
Rituals
series of actions that involve the whole family, used repeatedly under prescribed circumstances (one way mirror), results in changes in beliefs/behaviors
Logical connotation
the idea that development of a symptom is understandable in its context, people have gotten used to it and habits are hard to change
Neutrality
therapist withholds judgment, either positive/negative, to avoid becoming apart of family's struggles
Circular questioning
to change perception, each member is asked to comment on the behavior and interactions of two other members (based on bateson)
Hypothesizing
trial and error process by which the therapist makes initial suppositions about the presenting problem, then tests by asking questions
Dirty game
unacknowledged power struggles between parents and symptomatic child
Palazzoli
was a prominent Italian psychoanalyst. Coauthor of the milan theory with Bateson and Haley.
