How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 184

UNBALANCING
Technique used to create a different perception of reality. This is a procedure wherein the therapist supports
an individual or subsystem against the rest of the family. When this technique is used to support an
underdog in the family system, a chance for change within the total hierarchical relationship is fostered.
RESTRUCTURING
Technique used to create a different sequence of events. The procedure of restructuring is at the heart of the
structural approach. The goal is to make the family more functional by altering the existing hierarchy and
interaction patterns so that problems are not maintained. It is accomplished through the use of enactment,
unbalancing, and boundary formation.
ENACTMENT
Technique used to create a different sequence of events. The process of enactment consists of families
bringing problematic behavioural sequences into treatment by showing them to the therapist a demonstrative
transaction. This method is to help family members to gain control over behaviours they insist are beyond
their control. The result is that family members experience their own transactions with heightened
awareness. In examining their roles, members often adapt new, more functional ways of acting.
BOUNDARY FORMATION
Technique used to create a different sequence of events. Part of the therapeutic task is to help the family
define, or change the boundaries within the family. The therapist also