Strategic Family Therapy

Strategic Family Therapy asserts that problems are viewed as solutions that have not been successful. In other words, the family members and the family are doing the best they can, and each person is simply trying to make things work out better using what they believe to be solutions. In this view, problems arise when families do “more of the same” and believe that if a little bit is good, then more must be better.

There are four general ways that attempted solutions become problems: making the wrong changes when change is necessary, initiating changes that are unnecessary, not initiating changes when necessary and making changes at the wrong level. There also is a heavy focus on family interactions and how dysfunctional interactions perpetuate problems within the family. The counselor works to help family members develop and implement new ways of communicating and behaving to solve problems.

Homework as a family is usually a part of Strategic Family Therapy, as family members are asked to practice and report on the strategies they decided to implement in the session. Strategic Family Therapy is an excellent model for promoting and maintaining change within family systems and has been shown to be effective for a variety of family problems.