1. MILAN THEORY
The Milan Model - Palazzoli was a prominent Italian psychoanalyst. She and
her team of 8 other analysts read the works of Bateson, Hale and did lots of research. In 1980,
they split, with ½ continuing research and the other doing training believe that families should
have clear generational boundaries. A ndrew, (2011) The main therapist that influenced
Luigi Boscolo, Gianfranco Cecchin, Maria Palazzoli Giuliana Prata. The Milan also try to
keep resistance low and motivation high. They also try to find the "customer" or the most
motivated family member and work with them. The original model was very strategic. Families
were treated by a male and female co-therapist team; therapy were observed by other members
of the team; families were seen once a month for only 10 sessions. Therapy were supposed to
be neutral and distant. The work of the early Milan Systemic group represented an expansion of
Strategic Therapy (first order therapy) that included hypothesizing about the function of the
symptom, positive connotation of the problem and restraint from changing too quickly.
Remarkably, Luigi Boscolo and Gianfranco Cecchin, two members of the original team,
initiated a paradigm shift when they broke away from the group in the early 1980s. They
implemented the philosophical ideas of Gregory Bateson and moved into a “second order”
therapy position. Bateson’s idea that information is defined as “news of difference” was the
basis of their revision of the Milan Systemic therapy. An important development in the
therapeutic approach originated in Milan on the original work of Selvini Palazzoli and her
colleagues. Since its early days there have been several changes in the group, and the original
four workers have subsequently parted, with members following different developments.
Significantly, the original workers were psychoanalysts, which led to a particular blend of
therapeutic abstinence with regard to directing the client about future behavior, while also
integrating elements of their own forms of ot trhe indirect directiveness, influenced by a greater
emphasis on therapist activity.2., The Milan therapist focus these techniques Circular
Questioning, Neutrality, Counter-paradox the sessions epistemology of the Milan group will be
based on the broad principles of the original group.re supposed to be neutral and distant.
therapy would return to deliver the intervention. There are several interventions usually used.
Positive connotation - re-frame the problem but in a way that the family members are not
blamed or labeled as bad. b. rituals were directives to engage the whole family in some behavior
2. MILAN THEORY
therapy which has 5 parts the hypoth1.precession - tentative hypothesis are made 2.session -thesis
are tested and refined 3 .intersession - 4.intervention. Families were treated by a male and female
co-therapist team; therapy were observed by other members of the team; families were seen once a
month for only 10 sessions. Therapy were supposed to be neutral and distant. There are several
interventions usually used a positive connotation- re-frame the problem but in a way that the family
members are not blamed or labeled as bad rituals were directives to engage the whole family in
some behavior that exaggerated or broke rules and family myths. post-session - the team would
analyze the family's reaction and plan for the next session. Tucker, (1994) These steps are not
always successful because of the family unit that is embedded in a homeostasis environment .
Homeostasis means that the family system seeks to maintain its customary organization and
functioning over time, and it tends to resist change. Similar are cultures that have not assimilated to
the dominate cultural an do not want to change if this is the problem than the therapist must be able
to deal with the hierarchy wither it be maternal or paternal within the family. Families can vary
from two people living in the same house to large extended families living in different households.
From families we learn the basis of gender identification and role expectations. Therapist are taught
the finer points of social interaction that involve values and expectations such as reciprocity,
mutuality, sensitivity, boundaries, and unwritten rules of communication where language can
become a barrier for the therapist and the family. The United States of America is comprised of a
heterogeneous mix of individuals and families and is expected to become increasingly diverse in
terms of race. People may differ in a number of culturally important ways: race, education,
socioeconomic status, language, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and citizen status, to name a
few . Trimbl 2003 Focus has been turned toward the largest population of immigrants, coming
into the United States from Mexico and Central America , Asian and Chinese immigrants. Therapists
3. MILAN THEORY
present their own life experiences, and occasionally their own gen o-grams, as a window into the
lives of those not from the dominant culture in the United States. Families can vary from two people
living in the same house to large extended families living in different households. From families we
learn the basis of gender identification and role expectations. We are taught the finer points of social
interaction that involve values and expectations such as reciprocity, mutuality, sensitivity,
boundaries, of unwritten rules of communication. Conducting family therapy with clients of
multicultural backgrounds requires knowledge of the specific experiences and therapeutic issues of
clients. The emphasis on the family is consistent with most minority culturally defined values that
give family a pivotal role in human development. Miermont, (1995 ) Interventions, or culturally
sensitive therapy based on a comprehensive assessment of cultural factors, personality dynamics,
family dynamics, and health or medical conditions determine how the session will develop therapist
must develop methods of approach. The need for therapists to be culturally sensitive in working
with individuals and families who are culturally different from them has been increasingly
recognized and has been suggested that the better "fit" there is between a therapist and client, the
better the treatment outcomes will be that treatment is more effective when therapists receive ethnic
and cultural diversity training Cultural sensitivity and cultural competence in the selection of
culturally sensitive treatments is a requisite for effective counseling practice in working with diverse
clients and their families, particularly when clients present with health issues or medical problems.
Sperry, L(2010). The clinical theorists are addressing the multi-layerd systems associated with
family therapy and cultural diversity, the issues of how to define the reality with which one is
working, and how to know about it, become even more complicated. Therapists cannot be totally
understanding of every culture and must decide what ethnic material is relevant to therapy. so
understanding cultural competence, it is important to grasp the full meaning of the word culture
4. MILAN THEORY
first. , culture represents "the values, norms, and traditions that affect how individuals of a particular
group perceive, think, interact, behave, and make judgments about their world. So No family model
is inherently normal or abnormal, functional or dysfunctional. A family's differentiation is
idiosyncratic, related to its own composition, developmental stage, and subculture, and any model is
workable. But every model has inherent weaknesses, and these may be the parts that give way when
the family's coping capacity becomes exhausted.
So in applying this theory to my life growing up my family which was encoded in me since birth
My family cultural game from my grandparents who passed it down to their children and so on.
Some of the tradition that are inherited were the Holidays and foods and the behaviors that
accompanied them. Likewise was the dress code that followed and Sunday services. When my
parents divorced the tradition changed as did the roles in the family( changed to adapt.) Now as an
adult and been married twice the traditions have been passed down, but the roles are different. The
young ones grow up and have families and traditions are either continued on or changes by
replacement traditions. The Family traditions become less and less as important as it was growing
5. MILAN THEORY
up. Memories sight, sounds and smell are now the new traditions the we reminisce about and new
places and states becomes the
