Family Intervention

When the human being is born he is already immersed in the first group of his life: the family. In this way, we can consider that this is the primary group par excellence.

What is family intervention?

The objective of the family performance It is to modify dysfunctional patterns of relationships in the family, both in their internal and external dimensions. The main support of this intervention is the Help Relationship established by the professional and the family.

What is a family intervention for?

The intervention, whether carried out with the entire family system or if it intervenes directly on a single member of the structure, does not take as a starting point a possible pathology of the patient, but rather proposes that the characteristics of the family organization in the that the individual is immersed in, are those that found the reason for the intervention.

Another important point of interest is family interaction as a source of information, and as a form of communication. The actions carried out by each member of the family structure are not just mere individualistic behaviors, but they configure, in many cases, the elements of non-verbal communication that are irreplaceable by verbal types of information exchange. In this way, family interaction mechanisms define and provide ways to discover the true information and communications that are exchanged by those belonging to the same family group.

The Family Intervention The ultimate objective is to formulate a hypothesis that gives shape, in a globalized manner, to the problem of the family. This hypothesis must connect the behavior of each member with that of all the others and, therefore, the activities developed within the family intervention will then focus on trying to introduce a significant change in the mechanisms of family interaction, in the whole family system and therefore, in the person designated as “patient.”

You may be interested:  What is Psychology? 5 Keys to Discover This Science

When the symptom is primarily a response to a crisis or a temporary event, a direct approach should be used, in which the therapist or professional limits himself to defining the problem and advising the family what to do about it. If, on the other hand, the symptom is being used as a weapon, or if it is maintained in a repetitive cycle of interaction, it is very likely that any attempt to alleviate it will be frustrated. The professional will then find himself in a paradoxical position, since the family will ask him to eliminate a symptom that he himself is determined to maintain but that he cannot openly acknowledge. In these cases, it is best to use an indirect or paradoxical approach, which focuses on the consequences of thwarting that effort. They can be done alternately direct and paradoxical interventions.

Finally, in any intervention carried out with children and families, the environment must be taken into account. socio-familial and community in which it operates, influencing all the areas and factors that condition its development.