Re: STIA: About Interventions?? LO3176

Jvandeusen@aol.com
Sat, 14 Oct 1995 17:16:41 -0400

Replying to LO3105 --

On 8 Oct, replying to LO2982 - Jim Michmerhuizen wrot:
>My first exposure to the term "intervention" was in the work of Maria
>Salvini.

The reference to Salvini's work with families opens the door to
consideration of how family therapy is a discipline built upon the notion
of intervention.

In that discipline, practitioners generally work with a system (family)
in distress. At one level the entire therapeutic process can be
considered as an intervention. The initial task of the therapist is to
"join" the family, i.e, build a new, temporary therapeutic system
integrating both the family's own dynamics and the therapist's
professional capabilities to diagnose problems, identify key leverage
points, and then intervene to affect change.

The diagnostic and interventive work is for many therapists conducted
entirely in real-time with the family - via such techniques as changing
mental models and communication patterns. Every specific intervention
provides the opportunity for additional diagnosis. The therapist's final
task before closing out the therapeutic system is to assure that the
process has enhanced the family's ability to handle the presenting problem
more proactively and independently in the future.

The family therapy discipline requires a very strong grasp of systems
thinking concepts and related improvisational skills. Having practiced
for two decades in both the organizational and the family realms, I can
attest to the relevance of the family therapy discipline for
organizational change.

--
John VanDeusen
Work Systems Associates, Inc.
313 Boston Post Rd West
Marlborough, MA 01752