How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 254

An activity in which family members place themselves in postures symbolic of the family dynamics.
Satir placed people in position herself to activate right-brain experiencing.

 FAMILY SYSTEM STRATEGIES
A family operates like a system in that each member's role contributes to the patterns of behaviour that make the
system what it is. Certain therapy techniques are designed to reveal the patterns that make a family function the
way it does. The tracking technique is a recording process where the therapist keeps notes on how situations
develop within the family system. Interventions used to address family problems can be designed based on the
patterns uncovered by this technique. Family sculpting is another technique that's used to realign relationship
patterns within the group. Members are asked to physically arrange where they want each member to be in
relation to the others. This technique provides insight into relationship conflicts within the family.

 THE GENOGRAM
One of the best ways to begin therapy and to gain understanding of how the emotional system operates in your
family system is to put together your family genogram. Studying your own patterns of behaviour, and how they
relate to those of your multigenerational family, reveals new and more effective options for solving problems
and for changing your response to the automatic role you are expected to play.
The genogram, a technique often used early in family therapy, provides a graphic picture of the family history.
The genogram reveals the family's basic structure and demographics. (McGoldrick & Gerson, 1985). Through
symbols, it offers a picture of three generations. Names, dates of marriage, divorce, death, and other relevant
facts are included in the genogram. It provides an enormous amount of data and insight for the therapist and
family members early in therapy. As an informational and diagnostic tool, the genogram is developed by the
therapist in conjunction with the family.

 GOAL SETTING
Start small — “What will be the first sign that things are moving in the right direction?” Goals must be
concrete.

 ICEBREAKER COMPLIMENT OR POSITIVE STATEMENT
Generally speaking, when therapy begins with an involuntary client, one tool that is worth employing as a
matter of course involves the use of an icebreaker compliment or positive statement. The creative use of an
appropriate remark in the form of a compliment or some kind of positive statement to the client can go a long
way in easing tension in the client. It is considered creative when it requires the counselor to immediately
incorporate incidental elements in an appropriate and credible context for a compliment directed at the client; or,
it may simply state something positive to set the tone.
The contexts for the compliment or the positive statement may include:
• Relating situational factors, such as the client’s attendance or promptness for that day or the client’s care and
persistence in filling out the required office forms
• Thanking the client for coming to the session despite environmental factors such as the weather (good or bad)
and any other reasonably credible conditions relating to the client.
The icebreaker compliment or positive statement is deemed pre-emptive because the counselor delivers it a BF