Family Therapy Concepts and Methods 10th Edition Nichols Chapter 3 – Flashcards
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cybernetics
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The science of feedback; how information, especially positive and negative feedback loops can help self regulate a system
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feedback loop
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the return of a portion of the output of a system, especially when used to maintain the output within predetermined limits (negative feedback) or to signal a need to modify the system (positive feedback)
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negative feedback
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...Information that signals a system to correct a deviation and restore the status quo
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positive feedback
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...Information that confirms and reinforces the direction a system is taking
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runaway process
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unchecked positive feedback that causes a family or system to get out of control ...
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systems theory
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a generic term for studying a group of related elements that interact as a whole entity; encompasses general systems theory and cybernetics
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general systems theory
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a biological model of living systems as a whole entities that maintain themselves through continuous input and output from the environment; developed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy
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equifinality
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the ability of a complex system to reach a given final goal in a variety of different ways
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morphogenesis
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the process by which a system changes its structure to adapt to new contexts
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social constructivism
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like constructivism, challenges the notion of an objective basis for knowledge. Knowledge and meaning are shaped by culturally shared assumptions
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reframing
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Relabeling a family's description of behavior to make it more amenable to therapeutic change. For example, describing someone as lazy rather than depressed.
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deconstruction
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a postmodern approach to exploring meaning by taking apart and examining taken for granted categories and assumptions, making possible newer and sounder constructions of meaning
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solution focused therapy
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Steve de Shazer's term for a style of therapy that emphasizes the solutions that families have already developed for their problems
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exceptions
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DeShazer's term for times when clients are temporarily free of their problems. Solution-focused therapists focus on exceptions to help clients build on successful problem solving skills
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narrative therapy
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An approach to treatment that emphasizes the role of the stories people construct about their experience
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externalization
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Michael White's technique of personifying problems as external to persons
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complementarity
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the reciprocity that is the defining feature of every relationship
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linear causality
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.the idea that one event is the cause and another is the effect; in behavior, the idea that one behavior is a stimulus, the other response
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circular causality
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the idea that actions are related through a series of recursive loops or repeating cycles
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process
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how members of a family or group relate
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content
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what families talk about
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structure
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recurrent patterns of interaction that define and stabilize the shape of relationships
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subsystems
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Smaller units in families, determined by generation, sex or function
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boundaries
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emotional and physical barriers that protect and enhance the integrity of individuals, subsystems, and families
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enmeshment
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loss of autonomy due to a blurring of psychological boundaries
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family life cycle
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stages of family life from separation from one's parents to marriage, having children, growing older, retirement, and finally death
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culture
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shared patterns of behavior and experience derived from settings in which people live
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ethnicity
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the common ancestry through which groups of people have evolved shared values and customs
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example of positive feedback
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a driver on an icy road sends feedback to his automobile engine by stepping on the accelerator that can spiral out of control
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example of negative feedback
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home heating system -- temperature drops below a desired point and the heating system comes on correcting the temperature to a pre-determined setting
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How do feedback loops affect the concept of cybernetics
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1) family rules -- govern the range of behavior a family system can tolerate (the family's homeostatic range) (2) negative feedback mechanism that families use to enforce those rules (guild, punishment, symptoms) (3) sequence of family interaction around a problem that characterize a system's reaction to it (feedback loop) and (4) what happens when a system's accustomed negative feedback is ineffective, triggering positive feedback.
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who claims credit for general systems theory
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Ludwig von Bertalanffy
