Strategies for fostering communication and relationships with families

Family Communications

Family Therapy and Communications: Literature Review

No therapeutic technique designed to foster communication and improve relationships within the family dynamic is comprehensive and suits the needs and situation of all students. Educators and therapists will likely deploy a variety of approaches. Still, having a sense of the more popular theoretical rubrics is helpful when formulating an approach.

Cognitive-behavioral family therapy

Cognitive-behavioral family therapy attempts to facilitate greater communication between family members by focusing on current, negative thought patterns and behaviors, rather than delving into the family's long, past history like psychoanalytic theory. Although less community-based than some therapeutic forms, it can be very helpful in ameliorating the behavior of young children and their parents in the classroom as well as the home, by focusing on what can be changed (thoughts and behavior) rather than the actions of others. "Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events. The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel / act better even if the situation does not change" ("What is cognitive-behavioral therapy, 2008, NACBT). In other words, instead of saying 'my son is a bad boy,' or 'I can't do math,' family members are encouraged to change their thought processes, and thereby their actions and create a new family dynamic.

Bowen theory

Bowen family systems theory views the family as an emotionally interconnected system. A family (or a classroom) is like a small society, with its own unconscious rules, culture and behavior. A life change in one person's behavior causes changes in everyone else's lives in positive and negative ways. This can be an effective way to understand why a family member, even a young child, is 'acting out' in apparently self-destructive ways to express aggression at other family members. When there is a problem at home or in school, the whole family must be treated, rather than a single individual. This prevents scapegoating the child for what may be a larger family problem that must be addressed for the child to function normally ("Bowen therapy," 2008, the Bowen Center).

Milan Systemic Therapy

The basic assumption of Milan Systemic Therapy is that human beings are social creatures, and apparently symptomatic behavior is transactional in nature and must be understood as part of a larger social context. "The therapists consider that the way to eliminate the symptom which is present in the family is to change the rules and beliefs. Change is achieved in clarifying the ambiguity in relationships" ("Find out more about family therapy," 2008, DMRTK). Intervention and treatment of the family is required, not simply an individual member, and social services may be required to also address failures in the larger family system in terms of how the child's needs are addressed.

Structural Therapy

Structural therapy focuses on altering family behavior, through altering the structure and dynamic of how the family relates to one another, often by enhancing the feeling of worth of individual family members. The therapist examines the family's value systems and existing hierarchies in an interactive, relational fashion -- by becoming a temporary 'part' of the family in one view. Then, the therapist challenges these structures and begins restructuring the family by offering alternative, more functional ways of behaving and communicating ("Find out more about family therapy," 2008, DMRTK). Regardless of the efficacy of this therapy in some contexts, this approach may be too intimate for anything other than a therapist's office, with a therapist who is familiar about how to assume a critical role in the family structure in a professional and temporary fashion.

Brief Therapy: MRI

Brief therapy refers partially to the duration of the therapy but also to the intense, focused quality of the therapy. It involves goal-setting for behavioral improvements to solve a specific problem, rather than focusing on the past. It is future-oriented, and can be extremely beneficial to treat individuals where specific, swift solutions are necessary to address immediate behavioral concerns ("Find out more about family therapy," 2008, DMRTK).

Family Psychoeducational Therapy

This therapeutic technique evolved as a way of treating patients with schizophrenia. It emphasizes creating family coping mechanisms for the disorder, and the biological basis of the ailment, rather than views the family dynamic as the cause of the psychological illness. It is also helpful in a number of psychological disorders that can impact family relationships as well as the educational progress of children, including depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and ADHD ("Psychoeducational groups," 2008, the Menninger Clinic). It stresses how families by understanding how patterns of interaction in the family may influence the course of the illness and can improve the functioning of the afflicted individual and the family, without 'pointing fingers.' For families reluctant to enter therapy, this constructive approach to making life and school habits better for a child with a problem such as ADHD may seem less intrusive.