Abstract
Outcome data has shown that family therapy is highly effective in the treatment of many disorders including addiction, mood, and other issues. In working to make treatment as effective as possible, many residential treatment and outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH) programs have adopted family therapy techniques for use in individual and peer group therapy settings. Some have also incorporated family members by inviting them to visit the residential setting and participate in treatment exercises. An article by Faddis and Bettmann (J Ther Sch Program 1(1): 57–69, 2006) outlines an example of this integrated approach to family sculptures and reflecting teams in a wilderness therapy setting for adolescents. This integrated technique has since come to be known as the four phase Familial Sculpting and Reflecting intervention. Most recently these methods have been expanded for use with young men ages 18–30 in an adventure wilderness therapy program. This article will examine the theoretical basis for both of these approaches, discuss the application of these techniques to residential OBH programs and review how these methods have been most recently adapted for use in another program.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, T. (1987). The reflecting team: Dialogue and meta-dialogue in clinical work. Family Process, 26, 415–428.
Anderson, T. (Ed.). (1991). The reflecting team: Dialogues and dialogues about the dialogues. New York: Norton.
Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind: Collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry, evolution and epistemology. London: Jason Aronson.
Becker, S. P. (2009). Wilderness therapy: Ethical considerations for mental health processionals. Child & Youth Care Forum, 39, 47–61. doi:10.1007/s10566-009-9085-7.
Becvar, D. S., & Becvar, R. J. (2006). Family therapy: A systemic integration (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
Bitter, J. R., Robertson, P. E., Roig, G., & Disqueact, J. G. (2004). Definitional ceremonies: Integrating community into multicultural counseling sessions. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 32, 272–282.
Cloete, M. (2001). Special tutorial letter: Epistemology and the postmodern challenge. Pretoria, Gauteng: University of South Africa (UNISA), Department of Philosophy.
Combs, G., & Freedman, J. (1998). Tellings and retellings. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 24, 405–408.
Combs, G., & Freedman, J. (2012). Narrative, poststructuralism, and social justice: Current practices in narrative therapy. The Counseling Psychologist, 40(7), 1033–1060. doi:10.1177/0011000012460662.
Constantine, L. L. (1978). Family sculpture and relationship mapping techniques. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 4(2), 13–23. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.1978.tb00508.x.
Doherty, W. (1999). The intentional family: Simple rituals to strengthen family ties. New York: Avon.
Epston, D. (1998). Catching up with David Epston: A collection of narrative practice-based paper. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre.
Epston, D. (2008). Down under and up and over: Travels with narrative therapy. London: UKL Karnac Books.
Faddis, T. J., & Bettmann, J. E. (2006). Reflecting teams and other innovative family therapy techniques adapted for outdoor behavioral healthcare. Journal of Therapeutic School Programmes, 1(1), 57–69.
Fitzgerald, M. D. (1994). Resistant attitudes and behaviors of adolescents in residential care: Considerations and strategies. Child & Youth Care Forum, 23(6), 365–375. doi:10.1007/BF02128520.
Gass, M. A., Gillis, L., & Russell, K. C. (2012). Adventure therapy: Theory, research, and practice. London: Routledge.
Gehart, D. (2013). Mastering competencies in family therapy: A practical approach to theory and clinical case documentation. Belmont: Cengage Learning.
Gillis, H. L., Gass, M. A., & Russell, K. C. (2008). The effectiveness of project adventure’s behavior management programs for male offenders in residential treatment. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 25(3), 227–247. doi:10.1080/08865710802429689.
Harper, N. J., & Russell, K. C. (2008). Family involvement and outcome in adolescent wilderness treatment: A mixed-methods evaluation. International Journal of Child & Family Welfare, 1, 19–36.
Hoffman, L. (1985). Beyond power and control: Toward a “second order” family systems therapy. Family Systems Medicine, 3(4), 381. doi:10.1037/h0089674.
Hoffman, L. (1988). A constructivist position for family therapy. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 9(1), 110–129. doi:10.1080/03033910.1988.10557709.
Hoyer, S. (2004). Effective wilderness therapy: Theory-informed practice. In S. Banderoff & S. Newes (Eds.), Coming of age: The evolving field of adventure therapy (pp. 56–72). Boulder: Association for Experiential Education.
Jackson, D. D. (1965). The study of the family. Family Process, 26, 331–340. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.1965.00001.x.
Karam, E. A., Blow, A. J., Sprenkle, D. H., & Davis, S. D. (2015). Strengthening the systemic ties that bind: Integrating common factors into marriage and family therapy curricula. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 41(2), 136–149. doi:10.1111/jmft.12096.
Keeney, B. P. (1983). Aesthetics of change. New York: Guilford Press.
Landsman, M.J., Groza, V., Tyler, M., & Malone, K. (2001). Outcomes of family-centered residential treatment. Child Welfare, 80(3), 351–379.
Leahy, M. M., O’Dwyer, M., & Ryan, F. (2012). Witnessing stories: Definitional ceremonies in narrative therapy with adults who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 37, 234–241. doi:10.1016/j.jfludis.2012.03.001.
Leichtman, M., & Leichtman, M. L. (2001). Facilitating the transition from residential treatment into the community: I. The problem. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 19, 21–27. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.71.2.227.
Meyerhoff, B. (1986). Life not death in Venice: Its second life. In V. W. Turner & E. M. Bruner (Eds.), The anthropology of experience (pp. 261–286). Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Nichols, M., & Schwartz, R. (1998). Family therapy: Concepts and methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Nickerson, A. B., Brooks, J. L., Colby, S. A., Rickert, J. M., & Salamone, F. J. (2006). Family involvement in residential treatment: Staff, parent, and adolescent perspectives. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15, 681–694. doi:10.1007/s10826-006-9041-1.
Papp, P., Scheinkman, M., & Malpas, J. (2013). Breaking the mold: Sculpting impasses in couples’ therapy. Family Process, 52, 33–45. doi:10.1111/famp.12022.
Phipps, W. D., & Vorster, C. (2011). Narrative therapy: A return to the intrapsychic perspective? Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 22(2), 128–147. doi:10.1080/08975353.2011.578036.
Russell, K. (2003). Definitions, models, and assessing outcomes in outdoor behavioral healthcare. Paper presented at the Naropa University Wilderness Therapy Symposium, Boulder, CO.
Saltzburg, S. (2007). Narrative therapy pathways for re-authoring with parents of adolescents coming-out as lesbian, gay and bisexual. Contemporary Family Therapy, 29, 57–69. doi:10.1007/s10591-007-9035-1.
Sunseri, P. A. (2004). Family functioning and residential treatment outcomes. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 22, 33–53. doi:10.1300/J007v22n01_03.
von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General system theory: Foundations, development, applications (Rev ed.). New York: George Braziller.
Wells, M. S., Widmer, M. A., & McCoy, J. K. (2004). Grubs and grasshoppers: Challenge-based recreation and the collective efficacy of families with at-risk youth. Family Relations, 53, 326–333.
White, M. (1999). Reflecting-team work as definitional ceremony revisited. Gecko: A Journal of Deconstruction and Narrative Ideas in Therapeutic Practice, 2, 55–82.
White, M. (2000). Reflecting teamwork as definitional ceremony revisited. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publication. Retrieved November 10, 2003 from http://www.dulwichcentre.com.au/reflectingarticle2.html
White, M. (2007). Maps of narrative practice. New York: Norton.
White, M. (2009). Narrative practice and conflict dissolution in couples therapy. Clinical Social Work Journal, 37, 200–213. doi:10.1007/s10615-009-0192-6.
White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Faddis, T.J., Cobb, K.F. Family Therapy Techniques in Residential Settings: Family Sculptures and Reflecting Teams. Contemp Fam Ther 38, 43–51 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-015-9373-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-015-9373-3