How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 188
Stages of Family Therapy
Stage 1: Making Contact
Reach out to every family member and affirm each one’s individual worth
Establish trust with and gain acceptance of the family
Ask questions and observe family process and dynamics
Offer hypotheses based on therapist observations (in a nonjudgmental
manner) and check out observations with the family
Create an aura of hope and encourage positive energy within the family
Create a readiness for change
Develop an assessment plan early to gain the confidence of the family
Make an informal working contract (agreement) with the family
Stage 2: Disturbing the Status Quo
Develop awareness of communication roles and patterns through experience
Create new understanding in family members through new or increased awareness
Disturb the status quo and challenge the family’s homeostasis
Move the family to reveal protected or defended areas
Stage 3: Integration of New Skills
Re-create an aura of hope and a willingness to do things in a different or new way
Have family members express and apply these new understandings through experiences
within the session
Have family members use the new behaviors outside the therapy session
Help the family understand what happened in the “chaos stage” for enhanced learning
188