Virginia satir

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Virginia Satir (born June 26, 1916 , Neillsville, Wisconsin ; † September 10, 1988 , California ) was an American psychotherapist and one of the most important family therapists . She is often referred to as the mother of family therapy .

Virginia satir

Live and act

Virginia satir

Shortly after graduating from college as a teacher, she got involved in parent-child counseling and gained a lot of experience on the subject of family during her work in social services . Part-time she completed a postgraduate degree in social work at the University of Chicago . Since this course was oriented towards psychoanalysis , she also underwent training in psychoanalysis, including training analysis . In 1951 (while working with a schizophrenic patient) she first came up with the idea of ​​treating entire families instead of individuals. Later, in her therapeutic work, she regularly tried to make the members of a client family aware of the intergenerational patterns and the problems within the entire "family system" within the framework of so-called family reconstructions. She further developed the group therapeutic method of family sculpture . In 1959 she was appointed by Don D. Jackson and Jules Ruskin to the founding team of the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto near Stanford ( USA ) and was entrusted with the management of the institute's training department. The first family therapy training program in the USA came into being under her leadership.

Virginia Satir taught family dynamics at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute . She lectured and held courses around the world until her death in 1988.

Family Therapy Pioneer

Many therapists still use Virginia Satir's seminal statements on family therapy for guidance . Psychological problems of clients are not seen in isolation within family therapy, but the behavior of all family members is taken into account. Discussions, "family constellations" and a variety of creative methods can help us gradually understand the internal processes of the family. Hidden structures and bonds can be experienced. The network of relationships is unraveled bit by bit, so that entanglements can be loosened.

Systemic family therapy assumes that the members of a family and the family as a whole have »self-healing powers« that can be mobilized during therapy. This enables the family to solve most of their problems without constant therapeutic support.

Virginia Satir, among others, was important in shaping the so-called developmental or experience- centered approach to psychotherapy. Concepts from this direction are based on humanistic psychology , an optimistic model of man and mankind itself: the idea that man is fundamentally good and able to cope with the difficulties of life in a way that is based on respect and love is based when the person in question has the opportunity to really choose freely.

In their therapeutic approach, a person's self-worth is the key to all phenomena in our spiritual and social life. A person who has learned to value himself / herself will be able to communicate congruently and clearly, and solve all problems with respect for each other's freedom. Therapy is seen in this concept as a way to help people develop stable self-esteem so that they can dare to say their "true 'yes' and true 'no'"; that means saying what they really mean and want, and not saying what they think they are expected to say.

Family sculpture

The family sculpture was developed by Virginia Satir technology in family therapy. Clients develop a systemic understanding of themselves, their relationships with other people and their family constellation. Relationships and behavior of family members to one another are represented symbolically. As a family reconstruction, the “family sculptures” are part of the training of family therapists. By his family of origin is invisible bonds and "stuck" communication processes become visible. Relationship conflicts and pathogenic ties can be recognized and resolved.

The external shape of the family sculpture can easily be confused with the " family constellation " according to Bert Hellinger . Both working methods differ, however, both in the procedure and in the basic assumptions. Above all, Hellinger's assumption of social rankings does not coincide with Satir's assumptions.

Self-esteem approach and use of the basic potential

Virginia Satir's concern was to show people how they could use their "basic potential" and to promote growth and peace.

“I believe that the greatest gift I can receive from someone is to be seen, heard, understood and touched. The greatest gift I can give is to see, hear, understand and touch the other. When this happens, a relationship is created "

- Virginia satir

Human freedoms

She expressed her basic attitude in the "Five Freedoms" that she wanted to help her patients achieve:

  • The freedom to see and hear what is really there in the moment
    - instead of what should be, has been or will only be.
  • The freedom to say what I really feel and think
    - and not what is expected of me.
  • The freedom to stand by my feelings
    - and not to pretend something else.
  • The freedom to ask for what I need
    instead of always waiting for permission.
  • The freedom to take risks on your own responsibility
    - instead of just “playing it safe” and not daring anything new.

Communication attitudes

Virginia Satir has devoted herself extensively to communication within the family. The communication model she developed knows four types of communication that have a negative impact:

Appease
I always do everything wrong . - Associated feeling: I have to make everyone happy so that they love me .
Accuse
You never do anything right . - Associated feeling: Nobody cares about me. As long as I don't yell, nobody does anything anyway .
Streamline
Associated feeling: I have to show people how smart I am. Logic and good thoughts are the real thing .
Distract
Associated feeling: I'll get the attention, no matter how extreme I have to act for it .

According to Satir, these communication attitudes can be found in every system. They are usually experienced negatively at first. In development-oriented systemic work, everything is seen as resources. These communication attitudes are also converted into positive opportunities by reframing :

Appeasement is an attempt to create mutual understanding and harmony. The appeasers are in contact with all other parts of the system.
Accusations : the prosecutor has an overview of the situation and points to the current conflict carrier.
Rationalize : the rationalizer tries to raise the mostly highly emotional events to a meta-level in order to create access to logical solutions.
Distract : the distractor is the symptom carrier of the system and shows: something is wrong here.

Influences on other schools of psychotherapy

The systemic work of Virginia Satir has been studied extensively by Richard Bandler and John Grinder and used for one of the three basic models in NLP . Satir initially supported Bandler and Grinder, but later distanced himself in particular from Richard Bandler.

Exercises from Moreno's psychodrama and the systemic consciousness that Fritz Perls got to know through Virginia Satir at the Esalen Institute, became important components of Gestalt therapy and thus integrative body psychotherapy (IBP, see below). In the family reconstruction, Virginia Satir also used the role-play methods known at the time from psychodrama and gestalt therapy . Your work and that of Jakob L. Moreno on the one hand and Fritz & Laura Perls on the other hand influenced each other.

In 1963 Virginia Satir was one of the first teachers at the Esalen Institute ( Human Potential Movement ) in California, USA, where she worked with Moshé Feldenkrais , Randolphe Stone ( Polarity Therapy ), Jakob L. Moreno ( Psychodrama ), Fritz Perls and Paul Goodman ( Gestalt Therapy ), Milton Trager , and Alexander Lowen ( bioenergetic analysis ).

Awards

Fonts (selection)

(Year of first edition in brackets)

  • with Richard Bandler, John Grinder: Talking to families: Conversation patterns and therapeutic change , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 7th edition 2011 (1976). ISBN 978-3-608-89120-1 .
  • Family treatment: communication and relationship in theory, experience and therapy , Lambertus, Freiburg im Breisgau 9th edition 1994 (1973), ISBN 978-3-784-10120-0 .
  • with Claudia Ricketts: And who loves me? The art of accepting oneself , Integral, Wessobrunn 2nd edition 1992 (1975), ISBN 978-3-893-04045-2 .
  • with James Stachowiak, Harvey A. Taschman: Practical course family therapy. The development of individual awareness and the change of families , Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn 2000 (1977); ISBN 978-3-87387-062-8 .
  • with Michele Baldwin: Family Therapy in Action; The Concepts of Virginia Satir in Theory and Practice , Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn 1999 (1983); ISBN 978-3-87387-274-5 .
  • Communication. Self worth. Congruence. Concepts and perspectives of family therapy practice , Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn. 7th edition 2004 (1988). ISBN 978-3-87387-018-5 .
  • with Paula Englander-Golden: Be direct. The way to free decisions. , Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn. 3rd edition 2002 (1988). ISBN 978-3-87387-108-3 .
  • with John Banmen, Jane Gerber: Das Satir-Modell , Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn. 3rd edition 2007 (1991). ISBN 978-3-87387-167-0 .
  • Self worth and communication. Family therapy for counselors and for self-help , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 18th edition 2007 (1972); ISBN 978-3-608-89044-0 .
  • Vitamin L. How your life becomes active meditation. , Integral Verlag, Wessobrunn 1992; Translated by Manfred Miethe ISBN 3-89304-027-7 .
  • My way to you - find contact and gain trust , Kösel, Munich 5th through. 2001 edition (1976); ISBN 978-3-466-30548-3 .
  • My many faces - who am I really? , Kösel, Munich 5th through. 2001 edition (1978); ISBN 978-3-466-30547-6 .

literature

(First edition in brackets)

  • Steve Andreas: Virginia Satir. Pattern of her spell. Junfermann, Paderborn 1994, ISBN 978-3-87387-094-9 .
  • Gaby Moscow, Gerd F. Müller: Virginia Satir - Paths to Growth. Junfermann, Paderborn. 3rd edition 2002, ISBN 978-3-87387-062-8 .
  • William F. Nerin: Family Reconstruction in Action. Virginia Satir's Method in Practice , Junfermann, Paderborn 1989, ISBN 3-87387-297-8 .
  • Wolfgang Walker: Adventure Communication - Bateson, Perls, Satir, Erickson and the Beginnings of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta 1996. ISBN 3-608-91976-7
  • What is NLP? Historical-critical article
  • On the genesis of NLP * Maria Bosch: The development-oriented family therapy according to Virginia Satir In: Series innovative psychotherapy and human sciences, Junfermann, Paderborn 1977, ISBN 3-87387-004-5 .
  • Gesa Jürgens, Heidi Salm: family therapy. Five Freedoms In: Hilarion Petzold (editor), pp. 387–450: Paths to people; Methods and personalities of modern psychotherapy; A manual; Volume I: Junfermann, Paderborn 1994 (1984), ISBN 3-87387-222-6 .
  • Institute for Family Therapy eV Weinheim (Ed.): Ten years after the death of Virginia Satir In: Systhema. Opinions. Exchange. Discussion, 2 , 1998, ISSN  0934-7720 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Human Communication Psychological Models. Retrieved December 27, 2019 .
  2. ↑ See Gesa Jürgens and Thies Stahl (1982): Conversation with Virginia Satir (PDF; 203 kB), p. 15.
personal data
SURNAME Satir, Virginia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American family therapist and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Wisconsin , USA
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1988
Place of death California