Virginia Satir

Virginia Satir ( born June 26, 1916 Neillsville, Wisconsin, † September 10, 1988, California ) was one of the most family therapists. She is often referred to as the mother of family therapy.

• 3.1 Human Freedoms
• 3.2 Communication attitudes

• 6.1 works
• 6.2 secondary literature

Overview

Shortly after college graduation as a teacher, she became involved in the parent-child counseling and collected in their work in the social service many experiences on the family. She attended the University of Chicago post-graduate studies in social work. Since this course was oriented psychoanalytically, she also underwent training in psychoanalysis, including a training analysis. In 1951 came her (in the context of working with a schizophrenic diseased patient ) the first time the idea to treat individuals instead of whole families. Later she tried regularly at her therapeutic work to make the members of a client's family in the context of so-called family reconstructions the intergenerational patterns and the problems within the entire " family system " deliberately. They further developed the group therapeutic method of family sculpture. In 1959 she was appointed by Don D. Jackson and Jules Ruskin in the founding team of the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto at Stanford (USA) and was entrusted with the management of the education department of the institute. Under her leadership, the first Family Therapy Training Program of the United States was born.

Virginia Satir taught the specialist family dynamics at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. She held until her death in 1988 the world talks and courses.

Your work

Working with families from 1958 at the Mental Research Institute is supplemented by various publications and teaching, among other things, from 1963 also at the Esalen Institute. Your systemic awareness and developed by her family sculpture also has an important influence on other forms of therapy.

Pioneer of family therapy

Even today, many therapists based at Virginia Satirs groundbreaking statements on family therapy. Mental health problems of clients are not viewed in isolation within the family therapy, but the behavior of all family members will be included in the analysis. Can by talking, " family constellations " and a variety of creative methods thereby be achieved gradually to understand the internal processes of the family. Hidden structures and bonds can be experienced. The network of international relations unraveled piece by piece, so that entanglement can be solved.

Systemic family therapy assumes that exist among the members of a family and in the family as a whole " self-healing ", which can be mobilized in therapy. Thus, it is the family able to solve most of their problems without consistent therapeutic support. In the first 50 years of the 20th century and even to some extent today psychotherapy was a matter between two people: therapist / client and in / in. The abstinence rules were very strict, so it would have dared for a long time not a therapist, to ever meet relatives of a client for a joint interview. Among other Virginia Satir was important in the formation of the so-called development-oriented or experience -centered approach in psychotherapy. Concepts from this direction are based on humanistic psychology, an optimistic model of man and of humanity itself: The idea that man of reason is good on and able to cope with the difficulties of life in a way that is based on respect and love is based, if the individual has the opportunity to really free to choose.

In her therapeutic approach is the self-worth of a person is the key of all phenomena of our spiritual and social life. A person who has learned to appreciate themselves, will be able to congruent and clearly communicate and resolve any issues with respect for the freedom of the other. Therapy is seen in this concept as a way to help people to develop a stable self-esteem, so that they can dare their 'true ' Yes 's and 'true' no's' to say; which means to say what they really mean and want, and not to say that, of which they think that it was expected of them.

Family Sculpture - Family Reconstruction - Lineups for families

The family sculpture is developed by Virginia Satir technique in family therapy. Clients thereby develop a systemic understanding about themselves, relationships with other people and about their family constellation. Relationships and behavior of family members to each other are represented symbolically. The " family sculptures " are as a family reconstruction, a part of the training of family therapists. By placing his family of origin, invisible bonds and " stuck " Communications are visible. Relationship conflict and disease-causing compounds can be identified and resolved.

The family sculpture is easy to be confused by the outer shape to the " Family services " by Bert Hellinger. Both ways of working are different both in approach and in the basic assumptions. Especially Hellinger's adoption of social rankings ceiling are not using Satirs assumptions.

The approach of Satir - self-worth and usefulness of the basic potential

Virginia Satirs concern was to show people their ways that they could use their " ground potential ", and to promote growth and peace.

"I believe that the greatest gift that I can receive from someone is to be seen, heard, to be understood and touched. The greatest gift I can give is to see the other, to listen, understand and touch. When this happens, occurs relationship "

Human freedoms

Your attitude they expressed in the "five freedoms " of to whom they wanted to help their patients:

• The freedom to see and hear what is really there in the moment, - Rather than what ought to be, has been or will be ordered.
• The freedom to say what I really feel and think - And not what is expected of me.
• The freedom to stand by my feelings, Fake and not something else -.
• The freedom to ask for what I need, - Instead of always only to wait for permission.
• The freedom to take risks on their own responsibility, - Instead of only to " play it safe " and to dare nothing new.

Communication attitudes

Virginia Satir devoted herself to the communication within the family. Its proprietary communication model has four negatively impacting communication types:

This communication attitudes are to be found, according to Satir in each system. They are initially mostly experienced negative. In the development-oriented systemic work everything is seen as resources. This communication attitudes also be changed by reframing into positive opportunities:

Effects on other forms of psychotherapy

• The systemic work of Virginia Satir was intensively studied by Richard Bandler and John Grinder and used for one of the three basic models in NLP.
• Exercises from the psychodrama of Moreno and the systemic consciousness, which first met Fritz Perls by Virginia Satir at the Esalen Institute, were important elements of Gestalt therapy and thus the Integrative Body Psychotherapy (IBP, see below).
• Systemic therapy by Virginia Satir has been received as a scenario in the Integrative Body Psychotherapy by Jack Lee Rosenberg. The origin scenario is used to set up the events in the family at the time of birth. Thus, "a defining dynamics" and "secret topics" (Secret Themes ) and taboos reveal that are for the personal development of meaning. IBP creates as a form of body psychotherapy particular emphasis on the inclusion of physical events in the scenario and in the further development. As the only form of body psychotherapy IBP uses the systemic approach of Virginia Satir also for the development of resources.
• Systemic therapy by Virginia Satir has in the development of the " family constellation " influenced Bert Hellinger.
• 1963 Virginia Satir was one of the first teachers at the Esalen Institute (Human Potential Movement ) in California, USA, where she worked with Moshe Feldenkrais, Randolphe Stone ( Polarity Therapy ), Jacob L. Moreno ( psychodrama ), Fritz Perls and Paul Goodman ( Gestalt therapy ), Milton Trager, and Alexander Lowen ( Bioenergetic Analysis ) met.

In the family reconstruction Virginia Satir also used the then-known role-playing methods from psychodrama and gestalt therapy. Their work and that of Jacob L. Moreno on the one hand, Fritz & Laura Perls other hand, have influenced each other.