Structural family therapy was developed by Salvador Minuchin at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. It is based on systems theory and focuses on structural change as the main goal of therapy. The therapist takes an active role in restructuring the family. Structural family therapy addresses problematic patterns of interaction within families. It uses techniques like joining, reframing, and enactment to restructure the family system and make interactions more flexible. The goal is to establish clear boundaries between subsystems like parents and children.

1. Structural Family
Therapy
BY: KIMBERLY ALESNA

2. Structural Family Therapy
Developed by Salvador Minuchin at
Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic
Based on Systems Theory
Emphases on structural change as the main
goal of therapy;
Therapist as the active agent in restructuring
the family

3. Structural Family Therapy
Treatment that addresses patterns of
interaction that create problems within
families
Dynamic, concrete
Active Approach
Therapist “joining” the family system

4. Structural Family Therapy
Family Rules – invisible set of functional
demands that persistently organizes the
interaction of the family
Family Structure:
Subsystems
 parental,
 couple/marital
sibling

5. Structural Family Therapy
Boundaries
Clear/normal
Enmeshment/diffused
 Disengagement/Rigid
Hierarchy - how does power move in the family
Between parent and children
Between couples
 Family is functional or dysfunctional based upon its ability
to adapt to various stressors which in turns rests upon the
clarity and appropriateness of its boundaries.

6. Structural Family Therapy
Healthy families are comprised of:
parent-children boundaries that are both clear and
semi-diffused
parents to interact with some degree of authority
in negotiating between themselves the methods
and goals of parenting
Children’s side: parents are not enmeshed with the
children, allowing for the degree of autonomous
sibling and peer interactions that produces
socialization, yet not so disengaged

7. Structural Family Therapy
Dysfunctional families exhibit:
Mixed subsystems
Improper power hierarchies
ex: older child being brought in to the
parental subsystem to replace a physically or
emotionally absent spouse

8. Structural Family Therapy
Therapeutic Techniques:
Joining
Process of “coupling” that occurs between the
therapist and the family.
Reframing
Putting the presenting problem in a perspective
that is both different from what the family
and more workable
Enactment
Actualization of transactional patterns under the
control of the therapist

9. Structural Family Therapy
Goal of SFT:
Restructuring of the family’s system of
transactional rules, such that the interactional
reality of the family becomes more flexible
with an expanded availability of alternative
ways of dealing with each other

10. Sources:
 Miller, A. with Minuchin, S. and Lappin, J.
(2011) Instructor’s Manual For Salvador
Minuchin on Family THERAPY. 150 Shoreline
Building A, Suite 1 Mill Valley, CA 94941:
Psychotherapy.net, LLC
 Structural Family Therapy. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/structural-
family-therapy

11. Thank