Description
Book SynopsisA concise, readable introduction to systems theory (and especially second-order cybernetics) with practical applications to family therapy.
This book provides an overview of the basic concepts of a systems theoretical perspective using families and family therapy as examples and illustrations of their application in professional practice. This meta-perspective focuses on viewing problems in context. The difference between first-order and second-order cybernetics is explicated. Readers then are invited to see themselves as parts of the systems with which they are working consistent with a second-order cybernetics perspective. Along the way a difference between modernism and post-modernism as well as constructionism and social constructionism also are described. In addition, theories of individual and family development are presented with implications for their use in family therapy. The book concludes with more than 100 examples of how the meta-perspective of systems theory can be used in work with families.
In addition to providing concise descriptions of essential systems concepts, the book explains the process of change that occurs with family systems, especially those that the family finds difficult to adapt to. The text is replete with ideas for therapists to identify those changes and work with the family through their identified challenges according to the family’s narrative.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Foreword
Sally St. George and Dan Wulff
Preface
Raphael J. Becvar
Introduction
Chapter 1: About Theories
Chapter 2: Systems Theory/Cybernetics: A Paradigm Shift
Modernism
Postmodernism
Constructivism
Social Constructionism
First-Order and Second-Order Cybernetics
Chapter 3: First-Order Cybernetics: Definitions of Concepts
Boundaries
Communication/Information Processing
Context
Entropy and Negative Entropy
Equifinality
Homeostasis, Morphostasis, and Morphogenesis
Open and Closed Systems
Positive and Negative Feedback
Recursion
Relationship
Wholeness
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 4: Second-Order Cybernetics: Definition of Concepts
Autopoiesis
Consensual Domains
Epistemology of Participation
Feedback
Non-Purposeful Drift
Openness and Closedness
Reality as a Multiverse
Structural Coupling
Structural Determinism
Wholeness and Self-Reference
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter 5: Family Interpretive Systems/Stories
Chapter 6: Family Development Through the Life Cycle
Chapter 7: The Family as System
Chapter 8: A Critique and Defense of the Systems Perspective
Chapter 9: Patterns to Ponder
Chapter 10: Implications for Family Therapy
Stability and Change
General Principles
Engaging the Family, Assessment, and Therapeutic Goals
Pragmatics
Final Thoughts
Chapter 11: In Conclusion
References
Index
About the Authors
