Facilitating integrative family therapy: Application of an orienting framework in theoretical sociology

While many therapy approaches have always combined different practice theories and methods, it was not until the 1980s that integration emerged as a distinct area of interest in mental health. In family therapy, a number of useful integrative frameworks have been developed. This dissertation targets the core challenges associated with integrative family therapy efforts to move freely between different and often contrasting descriptions of social life.; The centerpiece of the project applies an orienting framework developed recently in theoretical sociology by Jeffrey Alexander to integrative frameworks in family therapy. Alexander's framework is built around a small set of concepts that prompt us to think about one aspect of social life in terms of alternative perspectives. It is applied to three integrative family therapy frameworks, including works by Celia Falicov, Joseph Eron and Thomas Lund, and Froma Walsh.; Early chapters provide conceptual tools for conducting this investigation. Levels of analysis in family therapy are examined to clarify issues that are addressed most closely from various perspectives. A metaperspective is then laid out that draws on theoretical advances in sociology to clarify macro and micro distinctions in all the social disciplines. Later chapters show how this metaperspective can help facilitate integrative practice.; Different strategies are used to apply Alexander's work to integrative frameworks in family therapy. One application directs additional attention to an aspect of social life that is emphasized in a component of an integrative family therapy framework. For example, when aspects of individual experience are illuminated, Alexander's work may be used to prompt us to consider various and often contrasting aspects of experience, like subjective, automatic, and rational behavior. A second application of Alexander's work helps extend social analysis in alternative directions by drawing attention to different levels of human experience. For example, when aspects of social organization are emphasized, Alexander's framework may be used to prompt us to think about the corresponding experiences of individuals in ways that simultaneously orient analysis toward aspects of organization, like social structures and meaning systems. This application of work in theoretical sociology demonstrates its usefulness and versatility in helping advance integrative family therapy.