Human Validation Process Model

Experiential models of family therapy were influenced by humanistic psychology and are based on the assumptions that 

(a) change results from the relationship and process that is co-created by the therapist and family members; 

(b) to be effective, therapists must strive to be authentic in their interactions with family members; and 

(c) all people have the capacity for self-determination and self-fulfillment (Kaslow, Bhaju, & Celano, 2011). 

Major contributors include Virginia Satir, Carl Whitaker, and Walter Kempler.

• Growth and Development: Satir believed that all people strive toward positive growth and development and that each person has the resources needed to fulfill his/her potential. She also proposed that self-esteem is essential for growth and development and that enhancement of self-esteem in family members is one of the family’s most important functions.
• Family System: According to Satir, families are systems and, like other systems, seek a state of balance. Problems arise when this balance is maintained through unrealistic expectations, inflexible rules, and inappropriate roles. With regard to the latter, Satir identified several family roles that contribute to a family’s problems – e.g., martyr, victim, rescuer, good child or parent, bad child or parent.
• Communication: Satir emphasized the importance of communication and proposed that “once a human being has arrived on this earth, communication is the largest single factor determining what kinds of relationships she or he makes with others and what happens to each in the world” (1988, p. 51). She distinguished between four dysfunctional communication styles that family members may adopt, especially in stressful circumstances: 
  • (a) Placating involves agreeing, serving, or succumbing to others out of fear, dependency, and a feeling of worthlessness. 
  • (b) Blaming involves accusing and criticizing others in order to hide one’s feelings of vulnerability and low self-worth. 
  • (c) Computing involves acting in super-reasonable and rational ways to avoid becoming emotionally involved with an issue. 
  • (d) Distracting involves communicating in irrelevant ways in order to distract attention and avoid taking a position on an issue. Satir contrasted these dysfunctional styles with a congruent (or leveling) style, which is a functional style that is characterized by the expression of feelings in straightforward and genuine ways.
• For Satir, maladaptive behavior is the result of the “interchange of low self-esteem, incongruent communication, poor system operations, and faulty family roles” (Henderson & Thompson, 2011, p. 502).
• The primary goal of therapy is to enhance the growth potential of family members by raising their self-esteem and helping them communicate congruently and solve problems more effectively.
• Satir et al. (1991) developed a six-stage model to describe how therapy helps a family change and proposed that therapy often involves cycling through the stages several times:
  • Status quo: The family is in a state of homeostasis in which at least one family member is symptomatic.
  • Introduction of a foreign element: Something outside the family system disrupts the system’s state of homeostasis. (In therapy, the foreign element is the therapist.)
  • Chaos: The introduction of the foreign element creates anxiety and confusion and a state of disequilibrium, which causes the family to attempt to re-establish a state of homeostasis.
  • Integration of new possibilities: The family begins to interpret the new information introduced by the foreign element in meaningful ways.
  • Practice: The family practices new interactions that are based on the new information.
  • New status quo: The family is in a new state of homeostasis that no longer includes a symptomatic family member.

Come back tomorrow for a question related to the Human Validation Process Model!