Main description:

A concise, readable introduction to systems theory (and especially second-order cybernetics) with practical applications to family therapy.

This book provides an overview of the basic concepts of a systems theoretical perspective using families and family therapy as examples and illustrations of their application in professional practice. This meta-perspective focuses on viewing problems in context. The difference between first-order and second-order cybernetics is explicated. Readers then are invited to see themselves as parts of the systems with which they are working consistent with a second-order cybernetics perspective. Along the way a difference between modernism and post-modernism as well as constructionism and social constructionism also are described. In addition, theories of individual and family development are presented with implications for their use in family therapy. The book concludes with more than 100 examples of how the meta-perspective of systems theory can be used in work with families.

In addition to providing concise descriptions of essential systems concepts, the book explains the process of change that occurs with family systems, especially those that the family finds difficult to adapt to. The text is replete with ideas for therapists to identify those changes and work with the family through their identified challenges according to the family's narrative.

Contents:

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Sally St. George and Dan Wulff

Preface

Raphael J. Becvar

Introduction

Chapter 1: About Theories

Chapter 2: Systems Theory/Cybernetics: A Paradigm Shift

Modernism

Postmodernism

Constructivism

Social Constructionism

First-Order and Second-Order Cybernetics

Chapter 3: First-Order Cybernetics: Definitions of Concepts

Boundaries

Communication/Information Processing

Context

Entropy and Negative Entropy

Equifinality

Homeostasis, Morphostasis, and Morphogenesis

Open and Closed Systems

Positive and Negative Feedback

Recursion

Relationship

Wholeness

Summary and Conclusion

Chapter 4: Second-Order Cybernetics: Definition of Concepts

Autopoiesis

Consensual Domains

Epistemology of Participation

Feedback

Non-Purposeful Drift

Openness and Closedness

Reality as a Multiverse

Structural Coupling

Structural Determinism

Wholeness and Self-Reference

Summary and Conclusion

Chapter 5: Family Interpretive Systems/Stories

Chapter 6: Family Development Through the Life Cycle

Chapter 7: The Family as System

Chapter 8: A Critique and Defense of the Systems Perspective

Chapter 9: Patterns to Ponder

Chapter 10: Implications for Family Therapy

Stability and Change

General Principles

Engaging the Family, Assessment, and Therapeutic Goals

Pragmatics

Final Thoughts

Chapter 11: In Conclusion

References

Index

About the Authors