How Systemic Thinking Informs Couple and Family Therapy

This workshop highlights how systemic thinking can inform and enhance the practice of individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy (Sexton & Stanton, 2016). It demonstrates the shift in scientific analysis away from Cartesian reasoning alone to embrace a more complex systemic framework capable of identifying and treating the complex reality of people’s lives. This way of thinking is the foundation of contemporary couple and family psychology. A paradigmatic model is presented that identifies individual, interpersonal, and environmental or macrosystemic factors that can play a role in psychotherapy (Stanton, 2009). This unifying umbrella allows the therapist to readily conceptualize the primary facets that should be explored in order to understand presenting issues in their real-life context and to ensure that they do not “miss” important factors that are relevant to the presenting problem(s). This is especially important in working with diverse clients and complex questions (Magnavita, 2013). Contemporary barriers to the adoption of systemic thinking in psychotherapy are explored and examples of more systemic approaches to specific types of therapeutic interventions are provided.

A systemic approach to the primary stages of psychotherapy is provided. Ten systemic thinking habits (see the system; shift perspective; comprehend complexity; recognize reciprocity; conceptualize change; observe patterns; consider unintended consequences; contemplate connections; accept ambiguity; and factor in time) are introduced and participants are encouraged to adopt these habits of thought in their practice of psychotherapy. Illustrations and applications of each systemic thinking habit are provided in the context of treatment in psychotherapy.

The workshop concludes with an opportunity for questions.