Family Systems Therapy
Alexis M. Foote
Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi

Family Systems Therapy
There are a number of theories under the Family Systems Therapy group that focus on communication patterns within the family unit. Systems theory is based on the family’s response to feedback from one another and the desire of the group to make changes to maintain the status quo. In the family system we discover who we are, we grow and change, and we give and receive support that is necessary for survival (Corey, 2013). A number of theories exist based on various approaches, but the theory behind them is that families are SYSTEMS of interconnected and interdependent individuals and to understand the individual, we must understand the family system. The family systems perspective is rooted in the idea that the client’s behavior may do four things, the behavior may serve a purpose of function for the family, the behavior may be unintentionally maintained by the family, be a function of the family’s inability to operate productively, and lastly the behavior could be a symptom of dysfunctional patterns that have been handed down across generations (Corey, 2013). Alfred Alder was the first therapist to use family therapy in a systemic approach. Following him, Murray Bowen developed his Multigenerational Family Therapy approach to resolving problems in the family unit. He focuses on differentiation of self for individuals to reduce the chance for entanglement, which occurs when family members become attached and involved in each other’s lives to an unhealthy degree. Another contributor to the family systems therapy approach is Salvador Minuchin who developed Structural Family Therapy (Corey, 2013). In this theory, the focus is on reducing symptoms of dysfunction and bringing about structural changes within the sytem by changing the family’s rules of