SUMMARY
We have stated time and again, in as many ways as were appropriate for this book, that the overall task of the family therapist is to assist the family members in transforming compulsive patterns of behavior into patterns of choice — choices of open, creative behavior. We have presented many patterns which we hope each of you, as
family therapists, will find useful in your work. In this first volume, we have limited ourselves to the minimum patterns which we felt are necessary for effective, dynamic family therapy. The more advanced patterns — including the meta patterns — we hope to make the subject of Volume II. One of the meta patterns — the structure of the way in which the patterns themselves can be organized — is the way that the patterns we have presented in this volume may be sequenced for effective therapy. The basic structure of Part II of this volume is one such meta pattern, the natural grouping of the patterns of Part I under the headings of:
I. Gathering Information
II. Transforming the System
III. Consolidating Changes
We offer one additional meta pattern (represented visually on pages 174 and 175) which we have found to be very effective. This meta pattern is fully consistent with the meta pattern presented above. This meta pattern has the following steps:
1. The therapist contacts each family member;
2. The therapist acts as a translator for the family members;
3. The therapist assists the family members in making contact directly among themselves.
We invite the reader to sort for himself into the three stages of this meta pattern those patterns identified in Part I.
Epilogue
In this book, we have emphasized the factors of change and the process for how to use them, as we understand them. We want to make it very clear that this process would be an inhuman endeavor without human caring and empathy, and without an eye to the soul and person of the individual in front of you as well as yourself. Refining the ability to find and discriminately use the parts of the change process which we have described will greatly enhance your understanding, and will help you to engage more economically in a productive, therapeutic adventure. Without the humanity, it becomes just plain brainwashing.
Further Reading
When we finish a book, we are oftentimes in the mood for exploring a little further and maybe reaching into some adjoining areas.
If that is now true for you, here are some other books and films to explore.
Barbach, Lonnie G., For Yourself: The Fulfillment of Female Sexuality. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1976.
Bernhard, Yetta. How to Be Somebody, Open the Door to Personal Growth. Millbrae, Calif.: Celestial Arts, 1975 (paperback).
Bernhard, Yetta. Self-Care. Millbrae, Calif.: Celestial Arts, 1975.
Birdwhistell, Ray L. Kinesics and Context, Essays on Body Motion Communication. New York: Ballantine Books, Inc., 1970.
Brooks, Charles V. W. Sensory Awareness. New York: The Viking Press, 1975.
Drakeford, John W. Do You Hear Me, Honey? New York: Harper & Row, 1976.
Huxley, Laura. You Are Not the Target. New York: Faw-cett World Library, 1965 (paperback).
Luthman, Shirley, with Martin Kirschenbaum. The Dynamic Family. Palo Alto, Calif.: Science and Behavior Books, Inc., 1975. Also available in Swedish, Dutch, Danish and German.
Lyon, Harold C, Jr. It's Me and I'm Here. New York: Delacorte Press, 1974.
Miller, Sherod (ed.). Marriages and Families, Enrichment through Communication. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1975.
Missildine, W. Hugh. Your Inner Child of the Past. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Nierenberg, Gerald I., and Henry H. Calero. Meta-Talk, The Guide to Hidden Meanings in Conversations. New York: Cornerstone Library Publications, Reprint, 1975 (paperback).
Phelps, Stanlee, and Nancy Austin. Assertive Woman. San Luis Obispo, Calif.:Impact, 1975 (paperback).
Rogers, Carl R. Becoming Partners, Marriage and Its Alternatives. Center for Studies of the Person, La Jolla, Calif.: A Delta book, 1972 (paperback).
Satir, Virginia. Conjoint Family Therapy, rev. ed. Palo Alto, Calif.: Science and Behavior Books, Inc., 1967 (paperback). Also available in Japanese, Dutch, French, Italian, Swedish, German, Danish, Norwegian, Spanish and Portuguese.
Satir, Virginia. Peoplemaking. Palo Alto, Calif.: Science and Behavior Books, Inc., 1972 (paperback). Also available in Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Hebrew, German and Spanish.
Satir, Virginia. Self Esteem. Millbrae, Calif.: Celestial Arts, 1975 (paperback).
Selye, Hans. Stress of Life, rev. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1975.
Selye, Hans. Stress Without Distress. New York: New American Library, 1975.
Simeons, Albert T. Man's Presumptuous Brain: An Evolutionary Interpretation of Psychosomatic Diseases. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1961 (paperback).
Smith, Gerald W. with Alice I. Phillips. Couple Therapy.
New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. (Collier
Books), 1973 (paperback). Original title: Me and You
and Us. New York: Peter H. Wyden, Inc., 1971. Smith, Gerald W., with Alice I. Phillips. Couple Therapy.
Dictionary. New York: Peter H. Wyden, Inc., 1975. Spitzer, Robert S. (ed.). Tidings of Comfort and Joy, An
Anthology of Change. Palo Alto, Calif.: Science and
Behavior Books, Inc., 1975. Thommen, George. Is This Your Day? New York: Avon
Books, 1976 (paperback). Tiffany, Donald; Julius Cohen; Keith Ogburn; and Analee
Robinson (eds.). Helping Families to Change. Hays,
Kansas: The High Plains Comprehensive Community
Health Center, 1972.
Posters by Virginia Satir:
"Goals for Pairing" and "Declaration of Self Esteem." Celestial Arts, 231 Adrian Road, Millbrae, CA 94030.
Videotapes by Virginia Satir:
Family Therapy I: Family in Crises; Communication I: Lectures and Demonstrations; Communication II: Mini-Lecture and Experiential Examples. Science and Behavior Books, Inc., P.O. Box 11457, Palo Alto, CA 94306.
Films with Virginia Satir as consultant:
Insights (22 minutes); A Better Place to Stand (25 minutes). Manitou Programs, Inc., I.D.S. Center 49th Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55402.