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Systemic therapy is primarily used to manage problems that arise in families, but not only - it can also be used by couples whose relationships are not going well. Systemic therapy is quite an interesting therapy for several reasons, one of them is that for families with constant quarrels, the therapist may … recommend "controlled" quarrels. Read what system therapy is all about!

Systemic therapyis one of many different types of psychotherapy. Among them, we can mention, for example, psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy or humanistic-existential therapy. The beginnings of systemic therapy were related to the development of the General Theory of Systems (OTS). Its author was the Austrian biologist and philosopher Ludwig von Bertalanffy, who developed the OTS in the 1940s. You can find out what system therapy is by analyzing the source of the name of this type of psychotherapy. Translated from the Greek language, the system is understood as an object that is generally a larger, coherent whole. This is the basic assumption of systemic therapy, i.e. focusing not only on one patient seeking psychotherapy, but on the entire system in which such a patient functions.

What is systemic therapy?

Psychotherapy carried out according to a systemic approach focuses on the functioning of entire systems. In such a case, the system may be primarily the family, but also its smaller elements - the systemic therapy can be used by both parents and their children, and only the spouses themselves. In systemic therapy, the most important thing is to analyze the circular, not linear, relationships existing in the system. In the linear approach, it is assumed that a cause leads to the appearance of an effect. The circular approach, in turn, assumes that one phenomenon leads to another, which then affects another phenomenon. This complicated sentence can be explained quite simply. Well, we are talking here about, for example, events that occur on the principle of a vicious circle. A naughty child may cause a growing reluctance in the mother, in turn the mentee - feeling increasing inthe parent's distance towards him - in this situation, he may show an increasing degree of rebellion against her.

Systemic therapy is related to several concepts defining the functioning of systems.Examples of these include:

  • emotional fusion(a phenomenon in which the emotional bond between some members of the system is so strong that it is not known whether they are experiencing their own or really only one person's emotions from the system);
  • morphogenesis(inclination of the family to change its functioning);
  • triangulation(a phenomenon in which the reduction of tension between two members of the system occurs when they have to jointly deal with the problems of another member of the system);
  • morphostasis(ability of the system to maintain its constancy).

The therapists conducting systemic therapy often face quite a difficult task. According to the assumptions of systemic therapy, they should be as neutral as possible. The role of systemic therapists is definitely not to judge who is responsible for the emergence of problems in a given system. The person conducting the therapy is to observe the relations and feedback existing in the system, and then - on the basis of his observations - draw the attention of the members of a given system to the relations between them.

There is a situation where systemic therapy is conducted not by one, but by a pair of therapists. This is not only to increase the chance that therapists will be neutral. It is particularly advantageous to conduct systemic therapy by two therapists (especially when they are of different sex) in a situation where the therapy system is a couple.

Systemic therapy: what are its uses?

The easiest way to compare the system to a family, and indeed - systemic therapy is used primarily in family therapy. This type of psychotherapy can help in the case of behavioral disorders in children, ADHD or various neurotic disorders. Systemic therapy can also be conducted in families with problems such as:

  • eating disorders (e.g. anorexia or bulimia);
  • psychotic disorders (e.g. schizophrenia);
  • addictions (e.g. alcoholism or drug addiction);
  • mood disorders (such as depressive disorders).

Couples who experience various problems in their relationship can also benefit most from systemic therapy. This type of therapy can workhelping, for example, relationships in which there are constant quarrels. Couples therapy can also be conducted in a situation where there are bed-related problems in the relationship (e.g. sexual frigidity in one of the partners or the experience of premature ejaculation by a lover).

Solutions used during systemic therapy

During systemic therapy, quite interesting mechanisms are used, which may arouse surprise in the participants of the therapy. One of them is externalization. It can be explained by the example of a system that reports to a therapist due to the existence of eating disorders in one of its members - e.g. anorexia. Sometimes it is beneficial to distinguish anorexia as a separate "being", an additional element of the system. This allows us to look at the problem from a completely different angle, what's more - a patient struggling with anorexia, when all negative information about anorexia is not directed directly to him, but to anorexia (which in the case of externalization is a separate "entity") may not deal with negative feelings that he might have felt when criticism was directed at him.

Systemic therapy also uses the phenomenon of therapeutic paradox. In this case, for example, it is a situation where the family comes to the therapist, in which there are still quarrels between the teenager and his parents. To such people, to their surprise, the therapist may … recommend to quarrel. In such cases, however, strict recommendations for such quarrels are usually made, for example that it should be done at certain times and on certain days of the week. This kind of therapeutic paradox aims to make members of the system realize that certain phenomena - in this case arguments - are directly influenced by them and their occurrence is really only up to them.

Worth knowing

How long does systemic therapy take?

Psychotherapy is often associated with a tedious and long-lasting method of treatment, but in systemic therapy it does not have to be that way. For some problems, it may sometimes be enough to overcome them with just a few systemic therapy sessions. Interestingly, meetings with the therapist in the case of systemic therapy should not be held too often. As a standard, they occur every 2-4 weeks - this time is to ensure that the system - which is aware of the phenomena occurring within it - has time to "work through" them and introduce various changes.

About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (preferablywalking along its shores with headphones in their ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.

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Psychology