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EP09 Keynote 05 – Reflections on Family Therapy – Salvador Minuchin, MD


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Topic Areas:
Family Therapy |  Keynotes |  Psychotherapy |  History of Psychotherapy |  Supervision |  Therapist Development
Categories:
Evolution of Psychotherapy |  Evolution of Psychotherapy 2009 |  Pioneers in Couples and Family Therapy
Faculty:
Salvador Minuchin, MD
Course Levels:
Master Degree or Higher in Health-Related Field
Duration:
1:12
Format:
Audio and Video
Original Program Date:
Dec 12, 2009
License:
Never Expires.



Description

Description:

After a brief description of Family Therapy on the 1960s, and an equally brief description of where it is today, we will make a comparison of the success of family therapy in Europe and the shrinkage in the U.S. A new model of family assessment in four easy steps will be described.

Educational Objectives:

  1. To compare and contrast the different ways of doing Family Therapy.
  2. To describe the four steps of family assessment.

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*

Outline:

Salvador Minuchin's Reflections on Family Therapy

  • Opens with humor about aging, quoting George Burns

  • Reflects on the beginnings of family therapy in 1958 and its enduring relevance

  • Cites Don Jackson’s 1952 work on familial metastasis as pivotal in shifting psychoanalytic thought

  • Recalls early family therapy work at Penn and with diverse populations

Early Years and Evolution of Therapeutic Approach

  • Describes early practice at Willowbrook with disadvantaged children and families

  • Developed a three-stage session model to address family dynamics

  • Focused on understanding diverse family roles and real-time interaction

  • Emphasized present-moment engagement while considering past influences

Personal Background and Professional Development

  • Shares upbringing in Argentina and medical training during political unrest

  • Served in Israeli army during the War of Independence, shaping professional resilience

  • Recounts early challenges after immigrating to the U.S.—language, culture, professional integration

  • Highlights his wife Pat’s influence on his evolving therapeutic identity

Challenges and Achievements in Philadelphia

  • Took on professorship in child psychiatry at Penn University

  • Faced resistance integrating family therapy into medical models

  • Helped build the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic into a landmark institution

  • Worked with diverse populations and refined a hands-on, dynamic therapeutic style

Influence of Different Therapeutic Movements

  • Engaged with influences like the Milano group and feminist critiques

  • Maintained a critical stance while borrowing useful techniques

  • Evolved toward a more questioning, humorous, and collaborative stance

  • Advocated for optimism and therapist-client partnership in change

Postmodernist and Collaborative Approaches

  • Acknowledged postmodernism’s influence—resistance to dominant narratives, focus on social context

  • Discussed Galician and Anderson’s collaborative approach and the value of “therapist ignorance”

  • Critiqued postmodernism’s lack of structure but remained open to useful elements

  • Continued advocating for directive yet flexible therapist engagement

Narrative Therapy and Evidence-Based Approaches

  • Reflected on narrative therapy’s emphasis on alternative personal stories

  • Respected Michael White and maintained an ongoing dialogue with him

  • Critiqued narrative therapy’s limits, especially regarding structure and efficacy

  • Addressed constraints of evidence-based models for complex populations like juvenile offenders

Current Therapeutic Approaches and Future Directions

  • Emphasizes helping family members take responsibility for one another

  • Sees the therapist as a facilitator of hope and co-healer with the family

  • Concerned about over-pathologizing children; calls for sensitive, inclusive approaches

  • Envisions future family therapy as collaborative, adaptive, and hopeful

Final Reflections and Legacy

  • Reflects on a lifetime in therapy and his influence on the field

  • Encourages therapists to maintain optimism and responsibility

  • Speaks candidly about aging, future projects, and collaboration in Hong Kong

  • Closes with gratitude and a call for continued learning and connection in therapy

Credits



Faculty

Salvador Minuchin, MD's Profile

Salvador Minuchin, MD Related Seminars and Products


Salvador Minuchin, MD, developed Structural Family Therapy, which addresses problems within a family by charting the relationships between family members, or between subsets of family. He was Director of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. Although it was minimally staffed when he began, under his tutelage the Clinic grew to become one of the most modeled and respected child guidance facilities in the world.  In 1981, Minuchin began his own family therapy center in New York. After his retirement in 1996, the center was renamed the Minuchin Center. Dr. Minuchin is the author of many notable books, including many classics. His latest is Mastering Family Therapy: Journeys of Growth and Transformation. In 2007, a survey of 2,600 practitioners named Minuchin as one of the ten most influential therapists of the past quarter-century.


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