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Toward a Generative Theory of the Therapeutic Field
Author(s) -
GIACOMO DANIEL,
WEISSMARK MONA
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1987.00437.x
Subject(s) - operationalization , impossibility , session (web analytics) , family therapy , set (abstract data type) , generative grammar , field (mathematics) , computer science , order (exchange) , psychology , psychotherapist , artificial intelligence , epistemology , mathematics , programming language , philosophy , finance , world wide web , political science , pure mathematics , law , economics
In the various models of family therapy, family systems are described as being patterned and programmed in their operations and development. The regularities and patterns found in family life are believed to be the expression of a program that determines the behavior of the family system and each of its members. Therapists holding this view will use “programming methods” in order to map family phenomena, and therapeutic work will consist of disrupting the problematic sequences in a deterministic way. However, if we take into consideration the impossibility of always linking inputs and outputs and the inability to evaluate consistently the behaviors in a system, problems associated with indeterminancy appear. Under such conditions, it may be impossible for therapists to formulate programs of family functioning. Therefore, we have operationalized a set of methodological principles that can be applied in such conditions. In this article we present the theoretical and practical implications for the field of therapy of “nonprograming methods.” A videotaped session is analyzed in order to show the application of the nonprogramming methods in clinical practice.