Utilisation of Role Analysis to Inform Family Therapy Training

UTILISATION OF ROLE ANALYSIS TO

CRAIG WHISKER 2007

A thesis presented to the Board of Examiners of the Australian and New Zealand Psychodrama Association Incorporated in partial fulfilment of the requirements toward certification as a Psychodramatist i

This thesis has been completed in partial fulfilment of the requirements toward certification as a practitioner by the Board of Examiners of the Australian and New Zealand Psychodrama Association Incorporated. It represents a considerable body of work undertaken with extensive supervision. This knowledge and insight has been gained through hundreds of hours of experience, study and reflection.

Copyright is held by the author. The Australian and New Zealand Psychodrama Association Incorporated has the license to publish. All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no reproduction, copy of transmission of this publication may be made without written permission from the author and/or the Australian and New Zealand Psychodrama Association Incorporated. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise, save with written permission of Australian and New Zealand Psychodrama Association Incorporated and/or the author.

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Enquiries: PO Box 232, Daw Park, South Australia 5041, Australia ii

In memory of my mother,

Cecelia Elizabeth Weeds (nee Morrison)

(1931 – 2004) iii

CONTENTS

Abstract ...... (vi) Preface ...... (vii)

Generating New Perspectives ...... 1

J. L. Moreno: Pioneering Systems Theorist and Family Therapy Practitioner ...... 3 Snapshot; to Vienna; spontaneity - creativity - conserve; pioneering family theorist; modern recognition of Moreno’s influence on the development of systems theory; the rise of systemic family therapy; summary.

Reported Applications of Psychodrama in Family Therapy Training ...... 7 Snapshot; enlarging experience through psychodramatic enactment; empirical evidence for the effectiveness of psychodramatic enactment; the role of psychodrama in teaching family therapy; doubling; family sculpture; summary

Functional Roles for Family Therapy ...... 11 Snapshot; reflections on the trainer’s interpretations of Sonya’s functioning; a preliminary role analysis is exploratory and provisional; the trainer’s interventions are informed by his preliminary role analysis; what role development is indicated for effective family therapy?; transcript from a family therapy session; descriptive role analysis of the family therapist in the transcript; possible roles in the progressive role system of the family therapist in the transcript; progressive functioning for family therapists inferred in literature; a broad schema of progressive functioning for family therapists; summary.

Functional Role Development of Family Therapy Trainees ...... 18 Opening Remarks A Creative Lover of Self: Working with Lydia ...... 18 Description of Lydia at the beginning of the training group session; analysis of Lydia’s first two sentences; a strong warm-up to living; valuing new experience; learning by experimentation; a sense of beingness; balancing analysis; dependency on the group leader; loss of mutuality; central organising role elements in Lydia’s role system; implications from the role analysis for interventions with Lydia; further description of the group session; Lydia’s spontaneity increases; maintaining spontaneity in the unknown; iv

enactment engages the training group; sociometric relationship between Lydia and the group members; implications for further work with Lydia and the group; further illustration of functional role development in a family therapy trainee. A Spontaneous Actor: Working with Michael ...... 26 A particular training session; description of Michael in the training session; discussion and analysis of Michael’s functioning as a family therapist to date; Michael functions on the basis of his motivating force; group members benefit from Michael's functioning; creative functioning is recognised and enhanced by the trainer; stillness at the beginning of the interview; constructing a skew in the therapist / client relationship; perceiving functioning as the presence of something rather than the absence of something; the role of reactive forces in relieving emotional discomfort experienced by the therapist; suggested role development to enable fuller expression of Michael’s motivating force; the trainer and Michael make an appraisal of Michael’s functioning; further discussion and analysis of Michael’s functioning; the trainer acts on the basis of his interpretation of Michael’s functioning; role analysis warms up the trainee to both motivating and reactive forces; the effect of utilising role analysis on the training group; role analysis identifies a wide range of functioning; the trainer functions as a double to Michael; the role of doubling in the development of self-acceptance; Michael does not function as a double with Liz and Mary; implications for further work with Michael and the training group; summary

Concluding Remarks ...... 34

Bibliography ...... 35 v

TABLES

Table A: Progressive Role System of the Family Therapist in the Transcript (Provisional) ...... 15

Table B: Functioning of Central Importance to Effective Family Therapy and Associated Functioning ...... 16

Table C: Elements in Lydia’s Role System Based on an Analysis of Her First Two Sentences ...... 20

DIAGRAMS

Diagram 1: Mother’s Continuum of ‘Who Holds the Power in this Family’ ...... 13

Diagram 2: Sociometric Relationship Between Lydia and the Group Members During the Enactment ...... 23

Diagram 3: Sociometric Relationship between Lydia and the Group Members After the Enactment ...... 24

KEY

+ Attraction ______Strong Connection - Rejection ……………… Weak Connection O Neutrality | Encounter symbol

ABSTRACT

The training of family therapists is a relevant response to the difficulties experienced by contemporary families. Several authors have discussed applications of Moreno’s psychodrama method in family therapy training, however, role analysis appears to be under-reported and under-utilised. This paper presents the point of view that role analysis aids both trainer and trainee. It magnifies the observable functioning of trainees, provides a readily comprehensible means of assessing their need for further progressive role development, and guides the refinement of a trainee’s efforts to acquire competence. It is hoped this paper will stimulate a wide range of readers to generate slightly different perspectives on whatever work they are engaged in and that this may in turn enlarge their skills. vii

PREFACE

Training in family therapy has been of interest to me since 1988. That year I uprooted a budding career in land surveying to swap theodolite for something more theologically inspired. What followed were short stints tethering disabled skiers to Mount Hutt, cooking square meals at the night shelter and discovering a knack for telephone counselling. Before long I sought a vacancy in a Child and Family Mental Health Service only to leave with their words, “You’ve come to the wrong interview”, ringing in my ears. I had forgotten the surveyor’s golden rule: ‘Always work from the whole to the part’. I would need specialised training at tertiary level before a family therapy employer would look at me twice.

I began researching the state of family therapy in New Zealand to discover there is no national association for family therapists1 and no tertiary level training2. Most practitioners learn family therapy skills as an adjunct to their primary training in social work, psychology, psychiatry or counselling. This is largely exposure to theory only, the exceptions being specialist post-graduate programmes for clinical psychologists and psychiatrists or clinical placements for a handful of social work students who receive ‘on the job’ supervision and mentoring of their part-time work with client families. This contrasts with the Australian situation where training in family therapy is available from introductory certificate to doctoral level. Five of eight Australian States have their own family therapy associations who accredit individual practitioners and training programmes. Three of these associations are members of a national body, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). In short, the high professional standing of family therapy in Australia is unmatched in New Zealand.

By 1991 I was a social work student on placement in a family therapy oriented Child and Family Mental Health Service in Wellington. Afterwards I gained employment in this field for several years and for the past five years I have been conducting family therapy training workshops in New Zealand. The aim of these workshops is to plant seeds for working with family systems in individuals, workplaces, communities and national organisations. To reach good soils the training must be integrated with the participants’ views on how the world works best. The central means employed to achieve this integration has been the use of psychodrama.

1 The Australia and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy Association Inc. has acted as a quasi-national association by its inclusion of prominent NZ practitioners on their Board and by publishing a unifying quarterly journal that can be subscribed to by interested organisations and individuals. The lack of development of the field of family therapy in NZ has been attributed to “in-house squabbling, particularly at a cross-cultural level” by at least one prominent practitioner [see McNatty on page 135 of Larner, Losinger et al (2002)]. 2 In 2005 Massey University introduced a Post-Graduate Diploma in Discursive Therapies based on a narrative analysis. viii

I suppose one factor influencing my involvement in family therapy and family therapy training is an intense interest in systems acquired while working for a number of years as a surveyor. In the course of training as a family therapist I also became aware of the nurturing functioning I had developed early on in my family of origin. In the work I have been undertaking since 1988 I have found it most satisfying to bring these two facets of my personality into balance alongside a number of other roles.

Acknowledgements In relation to my development as a family therapist I wish to express my thanks to the staff of the Wellington (1991 – 1994) and Hutt Valley (1999 – 2004) Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Services, especially to Antony Brewer (supervisor & mentor in Wellington), Colin Hamlin and members of the Tuesday afternoon screening team in the Hutt. You have all been very generous towards me.

The staff of the Wellington Psychodrama Training Institute have contributed greatly to my personal and professional development and quality of life over several years. Most influential have been Bev Hosking and Max Clayton. Bev demands my authenticity in training or supervision, where her finger is never far from my pulse. I am often seen and extended by her. Max has got down to the work of ‘being’ with me on many occasions and inspires me to live as a free person in a world of reality rather than fantasy. Chris Hosking, John Faisandier and Diana Jones have all been effective trainers and Glenis Levack has been an administrator who exudes the sort of collegial warmth and encouragement that helps to form a collection of people into a body of real human beings.

There are many fellow trainees and participants in groups who have assisted my development as a psychodramatist in ways large and small. While writing this paper Jeani Agranat, Allister Bush, Eddie Ford, Marja van Hedel, Kim Lawrence and Katherine Platz are a few of the many who have offered encouragement.

Max Clayton has supervised the preparation of this paper with a spirit of pragmatic permissiveness, by which I mean, he responds effectively to my goals and fosters my current abilities by mirroring them to me in correspondence and during supervision. The effect is both liberating and empowering. 1

GENERATING NEW PERSPECTIVES

Tremendous pain is experienced in families from time to time. It is seen in the faces of countless mothers and fathers and on the faces of their children. I imagine even as a child each of you could recognise the signs of pain being felt by members of your family. A darting eye or lines of tension around the mouth. We know these expressions are significant and suffering is present, yet, expressions of suffering by family members are frequently misunderstood by other family members. This can be seen in simplistic responses to one another, such as “She’s just in one of those moods” or “Don’t mention it and he’ll be alright”.

As you have got older you may have been drawn to the pain of others through your work. Perhaps a colleague’s marriage is under stress and you offer support as a confidant. A business customer is bereaved and you get to know his experience of grief by broaching the subject directly. Responding to such people may have increased your capacity to stay present with those in pain and they have benefited. You may have felt encouraged to increase your skills as a relationship builder across pain. We need look no further than daily news bulletins for evidence of the damage done when building bridges across pain and suffering is ignored.

The main focus of this paper is related to this general area of being involved with a variety of people who are experiencing pain. In particular, this writing has to do with the work of people who devote much of their professional lives to alleviating the suffering of individuals or couples or families. It discusses the training of such people so they can be effectively involved in this work, and therefore, will be of special interest to counsellors, social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists and others, especially family therapists and family therapy trainees.

Training to work with families in distress often requires some honing of the personality of the trainee. There may be ideas learnt in early life that would be better unexpressed, or new thinking and functioning that might benefit the work. The integration of established theories and methodologies with the personality of the trainee is a dynamic process of unlearning and learning. Imagine the benefits to a trainee who can contribute to and receive an accurate assessment of their current functioning. Videotaping or reporting on their functioning in a training group immediately comes to mind, however, there is still the matter of how to translate what is being observed into a language or framework that is recognisable and useful to both trainee and trainer. This is where role analysis has been found to be effective.

This paper presents some advantages of the utilisation of role analysis to inform family therapy training. In the first of the four main sections the reader is introduced to Dr J. L Moreno, the founder of psychodrama and a pioneer of family therapy. Reported applications of psychodrama in family therapy training are briefly described in the second section, before the focus shifts in section three to Moreno’s role theory and observations of what might constitute progressive functioning for a family therapist. In section four, examples of the utilisation of role analysis in family therapy training groups conducted by the writer are presented. These include descriptions of trainees’ actions in the training group, role analyses of their functioning and implications for further work to enhance professional development.

It is hoped, as you read this paper, you will be stimulated to think beyond the utilisation of role analysis in family therapy training to other areas of your personal and professional life. In doing so, you may generate a slightly different perspective on whatever work you are engaged in and this may in turn enlarge your skills. 3

J. L. MORENO: PIONEERING SYSTEMS THEORIST AND FAMILY THERAPY PRACTITIONER

Snapshot Matthew, Katy and their children use two weeks of their summer holiday to drive across the United States for a series of psychodrama sessions with J. L. Moreno and Zerka Moreno. In the theatre at Beacon they are directed to enact scenes from their lives, evoke surplus reality through soliloquy and role reversal, play the roles of an absent mother, an estranged brother. Anger and tears are shared and as the days pass by negativity gradually falls away. Later Zerka writes, “the family members guided us and, hand in hand, allowed us to guide them”3.

To Vienna To trace the early influences on this 1950s scenario we can look to Vienna nearly half a decade before. Picture in your mind Jacob Moreno, 19 years old, sitting on the ground in a public park, a human magnet to children who spend time there while parents are working. His tales and the impromptu play he produces transform his audience. They respond naturally, yet mysteriously. To Moreno these children are spontaneity in living form. Even passing adults are momentarily captured.

Next, imagine him at 26 years old. Dr J. L. Moreno, superintendent of a camp holding 10,000 Italian- speaking Austrians for the duration of World War One. People held against their will, diseased in many ways. Here Moreno suffers too. Sometimes things are so difficult that he escapes to Vienna for an evening of respite. In the camp he cuts his sociometric teeth. By creative acts of perception and leadership he groups families together based on their mutual attractions for one anther. Factory work groups are rearranged for greater social harmony. Over time the overall satisfaction of these people appears to rise, despite many deprivations4.

Spontaneity - Creativity - Conserve We can see from early in his life Moreno had an eye for interpersonal dynamics within groups of people. This was resoundingly confirmed in the breath between world wars with the publication of his aptly titled thesis ‘Who Shall Survive ? A New Approach to the Problem of Human Interrelations’ (Moreno 1934). Here he describes the creation of the universe as a series of spontaneous and creative acts; spontaneity being the essence of God and creation the oldest evolutionary response mankind

3 Moreno, Z. T. (1991) 4 In the last two years of his life Moreno wrote autobiographical notes on his early life. These have been abridged and published in the Journal of Group Psychotherapy Psychodrama and Sociometry (Moreno 1989). 4 possesses. He sees spontaneity awakening creativity and these two elements operating together in a given moment to propel an individual towards an adequate response to a new situation or a new response to an old situation. That such expression is frequently discouraged or restrained by cultural conserves seems to account for a great deal of mankind’s psycho- and socio-pathology. “If spontaneity is such an important factor in man’s world” wrote Moreno, “why is it so little developed? The answer is: man fears spontaneity, just like his ancestor in the jungle feared fire; … Man will fear spontaneity until he will learn how to train it.” (Moreno 1934).

Pioneering Family Theorist There is evidence to support the view that Moreno was a pioneering family theorist. In 1937 he published ‘Sociometry: A Journal of Interpersonal Relations’ and contributed to it’s first volume a paper entitled, ‘Inter-Personal Therapy and The Psychopathology of Inter-Personal Relations’ (Moreno 1937). By then he had written over 20 papers on relationship systems and went onto write 70 more before 1950, describing the sociometry of marriage, education, prisons, helping professions and psychiatric hospitals5.

Moreno was a master of original thinking who made a massive contribution to relational systems theory and practice. This is the field that later brought us General Systems Theory (von Bertalanffy 1966) and greatly influenced the development of systemic family therapy. Perhaps the strongest recognition of Moreno’s pioneering role as a family theorist comes from those who are themselves conventionally regarded as such pioneers. Nathan Ackerman concluded that “Moreno’s pioneering leadership in the field … deserves wider recognition” (Ackerman 1959) and Carl Whittaker wrote in his foreword to Jonathan Fox’s book ‘The Essential Moreno’, “(Moreno) was probably more clearly responsible for the move from individual therapy to the understanding of interpersonal components of psychological living than any other single psychiatrist” (Fox 1987).

Modern Recognition of Moreno’s Influence on the Development of Systems Theory Practitioners who have trained in both psychodrama and family therapy, like Campernolle of Belgium and Flomenhaft & DiCori in the United States, have published papers raising Moreno’s status in family therapy circles (Campernolle 1981, Flomenhaft & DiCori 1992). Campernolle wonders whether Moreno would have been better recognised in those circles had he published more widely outside his own professional journal and had he been less provocative with some professional audiences. Perhaps by the latter, he is referring to Moreno’s interest in ‘here and now’ processes with whomever he was with. The immediacy of such presence could be interpreted as confronting or alarming. One is

5 For a full listing of the papers written by Moreno, see the references given in the bibliography of Moreno (1953). 5

‘confronting’ the present moment. What Campernolle is reporting as ‘provocative’ might otherwise be recognised as enormous vitality, daring, creativity and vision.

These observations may in part explain why Moreno has been described as only “walking the brink of the valley of systems theorising” by one reviewer (Guldner 1983), who proposes that he led the way for a posse of ‘new’ theorists to descend the valley of systems theory decades later, seemingly unaware of their predecessor. One might wonder whether Guldner was too distracted by the hoopla surrounding that posse from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s to notice Moreno’s tracks extending towards the valley floor.

The Rise of Systemic Family Therapy Matthew and Katy’s family, introduced in the snapshot at the beginning of this section of writing, were in the first wave of families to be assisted by a systemic view of their relationship dynamics. Moreno used psychodramatic methods to enter their interpersonal world. Spontaneity training took place in inter-relational encounters where “the persons who fostered and shaped the mental disease have become the main agents in its cure” (Moreno 1937).

From the late 1950s into the 1960s, when early luminaries on the family, such as Bowen, Whitaker, Ackerman, Jackson, Minuchin, Hayley and Satir were making advances in applied research, through the 1970s and early 1980s when Bowen, Minuchin, Hayley, Boszormenyi-Nagi, Hoffman, de Sazar and the Milan quartet, amongst others, published theses on the phenomenon of family therapy, a plethora of systemic approaches were devised. How many of the leading figures were influenced by Moreno we will never know. Salvador Minuchin clearly values the spontaneity of the therapist very highly, firstly, to enable successful joining with the family system, and secondly, to create change through acts of leadership (Minuchin 1981).6 Similarly, Murray Bowen’s theory of differentiation appears to be founded on spontaneity in daily living (Bowen 1978)7. Elsewhere, direct applications of psychodrama in family therapy found in the literature include combining psychoanalytic psychotherapy, behavioural therapy and psychodrama (Ney 1967), sculpting the family (Simon 1972), use of concretisation in family communications training (Satir 1972), the role of spontaneity, sociometry and the warming up process in family therapy (Hollander 1981), use of psychodrama in resolving family grief (Kaminski 1981), multiple family psychodramatic therapy (Guldner 1982), cautions about using psychodrama in family therapy (Seeman & Wiener 1985), use of psychodramatic methods in structural family therapy (Perrott 1986), creating first and second order change in families (Remer 1986), applications of action

6 For a comparison between Moreno’s psychodrama and Minuchin’s structural family therapy see Guldner (1983). 7 For a comparison between the family systems of Moreno and Bowen see Hollander (1983). 6 methods in strategic family therapy (Williams 1989), and family psychodrama in child psychiatry (Flomenhaft & DiCori 1992).

Summary The preceding paragraphs place J. L. Moreno at the dawn of systems theorising and family therapy practice. Psychodrama, his synthesis of psychology, sociology and religion, is inter-relational, systemic, spontaneous, cathartic, and favours the here and now. This could be describing effective family therapy. ‘Psychodrama and Family Therapy - What’s In a Name ?’ wrote Tony Williams (1998). In Moreno their roots are entwined.

In the next section we turn our attention to the particular pairing of psychodrama and family therapy that is the primary focus of this paper, namely, the utilisation of psychodrama in the training of family therapists. This section begins with an anecdotal account and brief discussion of the experience of one trainee in a particular training group utilising psychodrama. It is hoped this ‘snapshot’ will warm-up the reader to the human face of psychodrama and enhance your appreciation of the various applications utilised in family therapy training that are reviewed thereafter.

REPORTED APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHODRAMA IN FAMILY THERAPY TRAINING

Snapshot A training group has been enacting a family therapy interview, with the group leader functioning as the therapist, four trainees functioning as the family members being interviewed, and the remaining trainees observing proceedings. After a suitable period of enactment the group leader is satisfied that he has adequately demonstrated the functioning of a competent therapist and he calls a halt to the interview to allow the trainees to share their reflections on the interview process to date. At this point several trainees release their pent-up energy with laughter and loud voices. Some roles are carried on in jest and there is a good deal of self-expression going on. When the group leader invites Tane to express himself to the whole group, the atmosphere is charged with possibility.

Tane: I was thinking throughout the interview about what I would do if I were the therapist. Then I got thinking about some of my own clients and I could really see them in this family and that got me seeing all sorts of ways I could maybe work better with my clients. Especially when it comes to getting them out of just going round and around in the same old circles. It’s given me something to think about. G. Leader: What effect is the new thinking having on you? Tane: Well, it’s really changing my whole sense of what I could do. Like seeing a movie and being inspired to go somewhere else in the world, you know? Like the world just got a bit bigger and there is more to this than I knew about.

Enlarging Experience Through Psychodramatic Enactment The training group described above has been enlivened by the enactment. Creativity is present and with it comes spontaneous expressions. In this atmosphere new ideas can take hold. It encourages the exploration of tentative feelings. We see this in the reflective quality of Tane. He has ‘seen’ something that stirs and inspires him. When the group leader directs him to enlarge his reflections, Tane’s perspective widens to something akin to seeing the world in a new light.

Empirical Evidence for the Effectiveness of Psychodramatic Enactment In the brief discussion on Tane’s training group, the inference is that psychodramatic enactment can be an effective teaching method. Empirical evidence for this view is found in at least one North American university study of 45 clinical psychology students for whom role-play activities were measured to be more effective than discussion activities in assisting their acquisition of interviewing skills (Errek & 8

Randolph 1982). Nevertheless, students reported being equally satisfied with both types of training they received, which suggests that the advantages may not be obvious and psychodrama may be under- utilised by those who are more comfortable with traditional classroom methods.

The Role of Psychodrama in Teaching Family Therapy An analysis of the utilisation of psychodrama in family therapy training has been prepared by Rory Remer who considers psychodrama ‘by it’s very nature the perfect vehicle for teaching family therapy’ (Remer 1990). His appears to be a leading work on the subject and concludes with a 5-point endorsement of psychodrama, which is summarised below:

1. Psychodramatic enactments of family interactions evoke a wide range of experiences for trainees unmatched by either explanation or discussion. 2. Use of psychodrama leads to a pooling of resources that enhance learning. Spontaneity begets spontaneity to produce a synergistic effect within a training group. 3. Psychodramatic simulation can be structured to examine different aspects or variables in family systems, a flexibility not available with actual families. 4. Psychodramatic simulation allows theory and therapeutic interventions to be taught, analysed and experimented within a family context. 5. Spontaneity training is inherently taught to trainees and the development of spontaneity is a desirable outcome for family therapists.

Questions about whether or not simulation of family interviewing through enactment is ‘real’ family therapy may linger for some, such as those who feel inhibited about displaying themselves functioning in a role, however, on the evidence of Remer’s reporting these appear to be out-weighed by the benefits such simulations bring to the learning process.

Doubling The judicious use of the technique of doubling has significant advantages in a range of situations. Let us consider the difficulties faced by a trainee interviewing a ‘family’ in a training group enactment. In any endeavour involving self expression there is potential for the reduction of life into categories of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, ‘good or ‘bad’. This is a dominant response in the world and is widespread in families, including the families of many family therapy trainees. This response may have planted seeds for self-criticism, criticism by one’s peers, or criticism by the trainer in the mind of a trainee. The fear of being rejected if seen to struggle or fail may be overwhelming. It is easy to see how the learning of trainees will be affected if a competitive atmosphere takes hold in a training group. 9

If a trainee interviewer is struggling in their role one option available is for the trainer or a fellow trainee to take up the psychodramatic role of the trainee’s double. Sitting beside and slightly behind the trainee, the double tunes into the trainee in-situ and wonders out loud about various things the trainee might be thinking, feeling, or might do to progress the interview. The trainee is able to confirm, correct or expand the double’s expressions. When the interview is going well the double can express affirmations about the trainee’s effectiveness. Coming from the double, the trainee receives credible confirmation that their functioning is appropriate.8

Family Sculpture Relational sculpturing is an established action method for the study of family systems and has been utilised in family therapy training for nearly 50 years. Both Virgina Satir (1967) and Ferber & Mendelsohn (1969) report training exercises where fictitious or subject families were sculpted using members of the training group for the purpose of exploring family relationship processes. With the development of second order cybernetic thinking in family therapy during the 1980s, greater recognition has been given to the influence of the therapist’s own family system on their work with client families (Hoffman 1985). For this reason, since the late 1980s or early 1990s many family therapy trainees have been asked to create relational sculptures of their own family systems, past or present, in the course of their training.

It may be argued that these exercises easily cross the boundary from training into therapy, raising ethical issues about informed consent, such as do the trainees really know what they are getting into and are they ready for it? This possible disadvantage is outweighed by the advantages of the established practice of enhancing professional role development through experiential learning. This role development is underpinned by the view that a therapist can only take their clients as far as they themselves have travelled. Equally, getting to know the emotional processes in one’s own family system is likely to provide some insight into possible counter-transference issues trainees may face with client families9.

Sculpting a family system is also a useful medium for the presentation of theoretical concepts to trainees. This idea can be illustrated by considering the theory underpinning structural family therapy. In this theory emphasis is placed on the identification of relationship sub-systems and the degree to

8 See Lee (1986) for further discussion on the family therapy trainer as coaching double. 9 The pros and cons for family-of-origin work in family therapy training have recently been debated in the Australia & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (see Mason, Gibney & Crago 2002). 10 which sub-system boundaries are rigid or diffuse. These concepts can be taught by arranging trainees in a defined space to represent the members of an actual or hypothetical family system. Sub-system boundaries can be concretised using objects or by sculpting the trainee’s bodies, such as crossing arms emphatically to represent a rigid boundary or having a couple’s fingers barely touch to represent a diffuse boundary. The veracity of the concepts can be explored in-situ by making an alteration to one part of the system and observing the response of other parts of the system. At the same time, the trainer conducting such as exercise is demonstrating a technique that can be utilised in family therapy sessions. It is typical of a psychodramatic method that it works on multiple levels.

Summary Many people have undertaken family therapy training as a component of their primary training in a branch of medicine, psychology, social work or education. When this extends beyond the didactic transmission of theory into experiential learning, training courses generally incorporate either the systemic study of one’s own family-of-origin or the enactment of family therapy interviewing scenarios, or both, to promote the integration of theory and practice.

In the preceding discourse on the applications of psychodrama in family therapy training reported in existing literature, the utilisation of role analysis has been implied by some authors without being thoroughly investigated. Before examining this particular application in some detail, there is likely to be merit in devoting a separate section of writing to introducing or reacquainting readers with the concepts of a ‘role’ and ‘role analysis’, and to discerning which roles are functional for family therapy. To illustrate these concepts the next section begins with an anecdotal account of Sonya, a family therapy trainee, and her trainer. It is hoped this brief ‘snapshot’ and the discussion on her trainer’s tentative interpretations of her functioning that follows will assist the reader to continue to warm-up to the central thesis of this paper.

FUNCTIONAL ROLES FOR FAMILY THERAPY

Snapshot Sonya is giving a verbal report to her training group about a mother and four-year-old son with whom she has been working. The whole group is arranged in a semi-circle of chairs and Sonya is sitting upright and alert, her breathing soft and voice steady as she describes the parent-child relationship. From time to time Sonya catches the eye of another trainee for a moment before shifting her focus elsewhere. At other times she is looking away from the semi-circle while she speaks. Later on when she recounts challenging the mother about the child’s safety, her shoulders droop forward and her voice tapers off.

As Sonya gives her report, the training group leader warms-up to several images of Sonya and to different thoughts. He imagines her as an industrial relations analyst addressing a corporate board meeting. In another moment, he sees her as a brave truth bearer and the story of the boy who spoke aloud about the emperor wearing no clothes comes to mind. He also wonders whether she is somewhat emotionally disconnected from others in the training group and thinks of her as an anxious self-critic. These thoughts warm him up to the value of Sonya’s expressions and the benefit of having her functioning mirrored to further the work of the group, so that during a suitable pause in the reporting he directs group members to re-enact what they have noticed Sonya expressing.

Reflections on the Trainer’s Interpretations of Sonya’s Functioning Sonya is expressing herself in a training group and the trainer assumes she has made an impression on every group member to some degree. This trainer is constantly engaged in tuning in with group members and he is affected by various elements of Sonya’s functioning, be they physical, intellectual or emotional. He has been trained to look at a person’s functioning in terms of the functional form their behaviour takes in response to other persons or objects at a specific moment and this training warms him up to relating to the functioning of Sonya in a series of images. Industrial relations analyst, brave truth bearer, anxious self-critic. These are tentative interpretations of her functioning in response to the training group that may be described as roles.

A Preliminary Role Analysis is Exploratory and Provisional Each role description of Sonya carries with it values, beliefs, morals, … what might be termed ‘visions for living’ relevant to a particular time and/or place in a particular culture. In this setting the tentative interpretation of her as an industrial relations analyst implies expert knowledge, superior insight, emotional impartiality and authoritative guidance. The training group leader has perceived these 12 elements in Sonya’s functioning. The merits of her functioning may be considered using questions of the following type: Is Sonya’s expression of the sum of these elements, this role, an adequate response in this training group situation, or are they being over-expressed or under-expressed as she gives her report? Is one role in conflict with another role, as might arise between an objective industrial relations analyst and a subjective anxious self-critic? Is a role that would be well suited to the situation absent from her functioning, such as a warm companion given the perception that Sonya is somewhat emotionally disconnected from her fellow group members? When answering these questions the tentative roles are held lightly and any categorisation of Sonya’s functioning suggested by this preliminary role analysis is provisional and exploratory only.

The Trainer’s Interventions are Informed by His Preliminary Role Analysis When the trainer intervenes in a timely manner to enlarge the impact of Sonya’s functioning on the training group he is giving value to what Sonya has been doing and to his own preliminary role analysis. The trainer realises there is much to be appreciated about the possible roles she is expressing and that drawing the whole group’s attention to this area while they are still warmed up to Sonya’s functioning is desirable. Later when group members respond to the trainer’s request for mirroring they will accentuate the particular element of a role that registered most with them. Between their perceptions, the group leader’s and Sonya’s own, a refinement of the preliminary role analysis may occur leading to a deeper appreciation of her abilities. From this experiential assessment a plan might be made for specific progressive role development work. This may range from a formal role training session10 to simply raising the awareness of the whole training group as to the nature of the work Sonya is engaged in.

What Role Development is Indicated for Effective Family Therapy? A family therapy trainer, like any other trained professional, has a blueprint for what constitutes adequate role development in a member of his or her profession based largely on their most influential theorists, mentors, trainers or colleagues. From the honour roll of master family therapists with their different theoretical orientations, to the idiosyncrasies of a particular supervisor, manager or co-worker, there is a bamboozling array of attributes suggested for working with families. What role development is indicated for effective family therapy? What attitudes and skills need to be taught to family therapy trainees?

In the remainder of this section of writing attempts will be made to address these questions, firstly, by making a role analysis of an effective family therapist in action, and later, by examining the existing

10 see Clayton (1992) Enhancing Life & Relationships; A Role Training Manual 13 literature in search of those roles that have endured from the masters and those that spring from current best-practice. It is hoped that the functional roles identified in these exercises will form a loose guide that may inform our examination of the work of two trainees presented in the final sections of this paper. In the meantime, a sample of a family therapist working effectively with a family is presented below.

Transcript From a Family Therapy Session The portion of transcript reproduced below is presented as an illustration of a family therapist working effectively with a family. In this particular family therapy session, a mother, father and their thirteen- year-old son have sought therapy following the son’s threat to suicide. The transcript begins about half way through the session at a point where the mother has physically placed family members on a continuum measuring ‘who holds the power in this family’. The continuum is depicted in Diagram 1.

Diagram 1: Mother’s Continuum of ‘Who Holds the Power in this Family’

Mother’s Continuum of ‘Who Holds the Power in this Family’

Powerful Powerless ______Father Mother Younger Son siblings

Therapist: (to mother who is standing in the continuum) What is it like to be there ? Mother: I feel frustrated. John and his father challenge and clash so much. I try so hard to work out ways to keep the peace and the young one’s just get carted along behind … Therapist: Look out the window and express yourself to no one in particular about how this is for you. Mother: Phew … it’s a battle (tears well up in her eyes). Therapist: (silence) You’re on your edge. Mother: (her throat flushes bright pink) Mmm … that’s why we’re here. Therapist: Face your husband and let him know why you’re here. Mother: (to her husband) I’m just very frustrated with the fighting and the barriers. Therapist: Here’s a barrier (handing her a jacket). Show him where this is. Mother: Right there! (with a flourish she drapes the jacket over her husband’s head). His whole head is covered (she is nodding as she steps back to survey her husband). 14

Father: I’m in the dark. Therapist: (moving to stand beside the mother) Here’s a question that might sound strange to you. I’m wondering, what is the connection between this barrier and your son writing you notes saying he wants to die? Mother: (instant response to therapist) It’s a power thing, they’re both saying ‘No!’ to me. My son wants to be like his father. He’s told me that to my face. And part of being like his father is to oppose me. Therapist: (moving back to former position) Express yourself directly to them.

Descriptive Role Analysis of the Family Therapist in the Transcript This therapist is motivated to utilise the psychodrama method to enhance the family systems work he is engaged in. Concretisation, soliloquy, surplus reality, doubling, interviewing for role, and encounter are evident in the transcript. This is a dramatic artist at work. He is full of bright ideas.

Having directed the mother to construct a continuum he commits himself to sticking with her as she warms up further to her life’s purpose. She feels a great deal of emotion and he is sensitive to this. When her expressions contain an action cue he is ready to act, dramatic prop quickly improvised. He responds spontaneously and she responds spontaneously. From this synthesis comes satisfaction from having acted genuinely in the moment. This accent on action is the life of a spontaneous actor.

When the therapist asks the mother, ‘what is the connection between …’ he is acknowledging the family as a relationship system. This precept is a guiding star. The therapist knows the ‘barrier’ must be affecting everyone in the family. His enquiry is purposely played down as ‘strange’ and only a ‘wondering’ to accentuate impartiality and naivety. The system will respond to the ‘neutrality’ of the therapist who is then free to ‘wonder’ about the system some more. The pressing issue that has brought the family to therapy is addressed systemically and the therapist is expressing himself as a perceptive systems thinker.

Possible Roles in the Progressive Role System of the Family Therapist in the Transcript The progressive functioning of this particular family therapist is summarised in Table A below. It would require considerably more observation of the therapist to determine whether these roles are firmly established in his role system. At this stage the roles are indicated by his functioning and are provisional. 15

Table A: Progressive Role System of the Family Therapist in the Transcript (Provisional)

Progressive Role System of the Family Therapist in the Transcript (Provisional)

dramatic artist … creative genius … visionary lover of life … warm sensitive companion … spontaneous actor … naïve enquirer … perceptive systems thinker …

The progressive roles in Table A are functional expressions of the motivating force in this particular family therapist to create, explore, enlarge and refine new expressions of life. Are they idiosyncratic to this person or do they approximate what has been proposed elsewhere as progressive functioning for family therapists? To look into this matter we will now examine what leading family therapy educators have to say about an effective family therapist.

Progressive Functioning for Family Therapists Inferred in Literature In 2002 the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy conducted a symposium of invited contributors to discuss ‘what are the core learnings of family therapy?’ From their report the following role descriptions can be inferred as functional for a family therapist: brave explorer, perceptive systemic thinker, rigorous engager, wise relational analyst, warm companion, skilful communications mapper, adaptable role reverser, experiential learner, open connecter, timely respondent, relevant self discloser, multi-task juggler, reliable boundary keeper, calm traveller, interaction specialist, friend of the unknown, naive enquirer, artisan craftsman.

Elsewhere, Bowen, Minuchin and Boszormenyi-Nagy have all influenced the development of family therapy training and infer a variety of role descriptions in their writings11: courageous risk taker, skilful tactician, compassionate guide, battlefield survivor, spontaneous actor, orchestral conductor, dogged explorer, impartial relationship builder, genuine confronter, wounded healer, differentiated thinker, calm investigator, natural artist, self-expressive reactor, sensitive empathiser.

This is a small selection from a myriad of possible role descriptions that could be functional for family therapy in a given moment and context. Most of these roles could also apply to allied professionals,

11 see Bowen (1978), Minuchin & Fishman (1981)and Boszormenyi-Nagy (1984) 16 such as social workers, counsellors, psychotherapists and others. Most might also be expressed by any fully functioning human being.

A Broad Schema of Progressive Functioning for Family Therapists To make some unifying sense of the preceding paragraphs, let us think in terms of a broad schema for the progressive functioning of family therapists. Such a schema is not intended to be a definitive prescription for the professional development of a family therapist. Each individual trainee and trainer is unique and the functioning of each is unique. What is presented is an idea or a way of viewing the functioning of a family therapist, rather than actual psychodramatic roles.

A family therapist works with a sociometric system. This calls for perceptive systems thinking to be expressed in observation, analysis and inclusive communication. His or her engagement with a family is through a series of spontaneous actions that highlight, delve into, celebrate, affirm, unbalance, expand or confront relational dynamics. The family is experiencing pain and the therapist must hold a creative vision or love for life in order to avoid sentimental responses to pain and other ineffectual solutions. In the proposed schema each of the underlined descriptions above represent a distinct area of functioning that appears to be of central importance to effective family therapy. There is a wide range of associated functioning with each central description and this situation is summarised in Table B below.

Table B: Functioning of Central Importance to Effective Family Therapy and Associated Functioning

Functioning of Central Importance to Effective Family Therapy and Associated Functioning

perceptive systemic thinker spontaneous actor creative lover of life naïve enquirer self-expressive reactor brave explorer calm investigator orchestral conductor wounded healer differentiated thinker natural artist friend of the unknown impartial relationship builder adaptable role reverser calm traveller wise relational analyst timely respondent battlefield survivor skilful communications mapper relevant self discloser artisan craftsman reliable boundary keeper sensitive empathiser compassionate guide skilful tactician genuine confronter courageous risk taker 17

Summary In this section we have analysed the functioning of both a family therapy trainer and a family therapist working with their respective clients and made a brief review of family therapy training literature in search of descriptions of progressive functioning for a family therapist. A synopsis of central and secondary functioning for effective family therapy has been presented. This is not intended as an authoritative ordinance for the development of a family therapist, however it may be useful when assessing a trainee’s functioning in a training group or with client families, and for planning interventions to further progressive development. This process is illustrated in the following section where scenarios from family therapy training groupwork are described and role analysis is utilised to inform the training process.

FUNCTIONAL ROLE DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILY THERAPY TRAINEES

Opening Remarks The attuned family therapy trainer is constantly noticing the personality characteristics and responses of each member of the training group. When utilising role analysis, such a trainer is analysing the roles being expressed by trainees and locating these on a continuum. Those roles with a preponderance of functional elements lie towards one end of the continuum and those with a large number of dysfunctional elements lie towards the opposite end. Interventions in the training environment are designed to assist the development of functional roles. This process is described through the work of Lydia and Michael who are family therapy trainees attending separate training workshops.

A CREATIVE LOVER OF SELF Working with Lydia

Description of Lydia at the Beginning of the Training Group Session Lydia is a forty-year-old community social worker whose clients are adults with a mental health disorder and their families. When the leader of her family therapy training group begins the session by inviting reflections from the week since the previous training day, Lydia is leaning forward in her chair with an air of alertness.

Lydia: (enthusiastically) Well, I had an amazing experience this week using one of the methods you showed us last time. I was working with a young man and I got him to concretise his mental illness.

Analysis of Lydia’s First Two Sentences There is significant value in reflecting on a small expression by a person. In the analysis of one or two sentences much is revealed about a person’s relationship with themselves and with others. There are a number of aspects of Lydia’s functioning that are beginning to emerge in her first couple of sentences, including her passion, her willingness to display herself, to show initiative and be involved in life. These embryonic role elements will be examined in detail in the next two or three pages of discussion, and are summarised in Table C to follow.

A Strong Warm-up to Living At the beginning of the session Lydia is warmed up to her purpose for being on this planet, namely, to be consciously alive and in relationship with others. This is inferred from the descriptions of her body 19 tone, alert demeanour and her full response to the group leader’s call. You may also have been in a classroom or workshop with an eager student. That person’s enthusiasm emboldens them to lead many of the activities of the group. Certainly, a family therapist must be an eager student of the family systems with whom he or she is working and effective engagement with family systems calls for bold leadership. At this stage these roles are adequately present in Lydia. Analysis over a longer time period will establish whether the roles are over developed, as might be concluded if Lydia were to speak first in the majority of training sessions.

Valuing New Experience Lydia wishes to share her ‘amazing experience’. The liveliness of her voice and facial tone indicate that she is filled with surprise and wonder. Something new is in her life and she sees value in expressing it. As we breathe in this atmosphere we experience the heroic power and glory of a returning explorer mixed with the joy of one who loves Spring’s new life.

Learning by Experimentation She has recently worked with a client using one of the methods presented in the training. Lydia is learning by experimentation to see what works for her and what doesn’t. This is very attractive to the group leader of an experiential training group and to her fellow trainees for whom she is a fearless trailblazer. It will also be attractive to her family therapy clients when they meet her creative powers and adventurous spirit in the face of previously insurmountable problems.

A Sense of Beingness The use of ‘I’ statements and the choice of the words ‘working with’ the young man imply Lydia has a sense of her own beingness and of the beingness of the other. The I Am element is affirmed in both parties. Lydia is an affirmer of life or a celebrator of birth. This has previously been identified in this paper as functioning of central importance to family therapy.

Balancing Analysis We can see from the preceding analysis that Lydia is expressing herself in many highly functional ways. Any direct response to her would do well to highlight her obvious abilities and the value of these. There is also evidence of dysfunction in her reporting and our appreciation of her will increase if we now apply ourselves to understanding this further.

Dependency on the Group Leader When Lydia reports directly to the group leader using the phrase ‘… the method you showed us last time’ she is not addressing the whole group. She is moving toward the group leader and away from her fellow group members. She may be involved in a basic assumption group process that favours dependency on the group leader and emotional cut-off from others. In this system we might picture her as an isolated competitor, such as an aspiring teacher’s pet or a blinkered racehorse.

Loss of Mutuality Lydia also appears to have warmed up to a manipulative or enforcing role when she reports of her client, ‘I got him to concretise his mental illness’. The mutuality of the earlier ‘working with’ relationship that might invite him or ask him is replaced by one where she has ‘got’ him to be involved with her.

Table C: Elements in Lydia’s Role System Based on an Analysis of Her First Two Sentences

Elements of Progressive Elements of Coping (Functional) Roles (Dysfunctional) Roles

eager student aspiring teacher’s pet bold experimenter blinkered racehorse fearless trailblazer manipulative enforcer creative initiator heroic explorer Lover of Spring affirmer of life

Central Organising Role Elements in Lydia’s Role System Each role description in Table C may arouse an image or emotion in the reader and the effect of multiple responses is a disjointed view of Lydia’s functioning. The family therapy trainer who conceptualises the central role ‘that organises and harmonises a number of other roles that would otherwise operate in isolation’ (Clayton 1993) brings about unification of Lydia’s functioning in a single role description that, for our purposes, may guide sensible planning for further progressive development.

In Lydia we see a person who has developed self-esteem and is willing to create space for herself in the world. The central organising role element in this progressive functioning could be described as a creative lover of self. Conversely, her coping role elements jostle one another like anxious achievers.

Implications from the Role Analysis for Interventions with Lydia The role analysis confirms that Lydia’s overall functioning is adequate. We can appreciate aspects of her personality, learning style and the strength of her life force from the various role descriptions given. Common sense tells us that Lydia will benefit from continuing to exercise her creative and appreciative roles, which will in turn assist to diminish the anxious roles. Coaching from the group leader and stronger connection with her fellow group members are both likely to be fruitful given her apparent zest and intelligence.

Currently, Lydia is giving her report through a dialogue with the group leader. An intervention directing her to use an experiential reporting method that engages with the whole group is called for. This is likely to have many benefits. Lydia will warm-up more to the actual events and to the surplus reality surrounding the events she is reporting on. Increase in her warm-up will expand her creative and appreciative roles. Group members will interpret her reporting through a wider range of perceptual lenses. Spontaneity in the group will increase opening the way for the development of new roles. An emerging group norm valuing creative responses over old habits will have been enhanced. There are probably many other areas of benefit from such an intervention and some of these will be discussed in the reflections to follow the further description of the group session given below.

Further Description of the Group Session G. Leader: (seated) Show us in action Lydia. Use the working space here (gestures with arms towards the space in front of the group) to set out what happened. Lydia: (stands and walks directly to the centre of the working space and turns to face the training group who are seated before her in a semi-circle of chairs) Well, I am the client I was working with. He is a young man with a mental illness. G. Leader: (crisply) Choose something to be the mental illness and place it relative to you, young man. Lydia: (Immediately scans the room thoughtfully, then walks several metres to a bookshelf and chooses a book. Returns to the central position and places the book on the floor in front of herself) This is my mental illness and I really want it to be over there (picks up the book and places it 3-4 metres away to the left, then comes back to her central position and 22

faces the group again). But sometimes I want it right back here in front of me where I am used to it being (retrieves book while speaking). (There are nods and murmurs of affirmation directed towards Lydia by several group members and by the group leader). Lydia: (looking 3-4 metres forward at the floor as she speaks) It was amazing to see him go and get the mental illness like that. I could really see what was happening and his family could really see it too (Lydia starts walking towards her seat as she continues speaking) I really got it and I saw him like I hadn’t seen him before. It was a very powerful moment (Jane speaks as soon as Lydia reaches her seat). Jane: (looking at the group leader) I have something too. I was reading the article on sculpturing and …

Lydia’s Spontaneity Increases The group leader directs Lydia to ‘set out’ what happened and she immediately enters the working space. Her seamless movement from dialogue with the group leader to standing in the action space introducing herself as the client is evidence of a high level of spontaneity. Had she been able to maintain being in the role of the client, rather than reverting to speaking about him in the third person, we could have said her spontaneity level was very high. As it transpires, the group leader’s second crisp directive to her as if she were in the role of the young man had the desired effect of raising her spontaneity further and she quickly leapt fully into that role.

Maintaining Spontaneity in the Unknown We see in Lydia a spontaneous actor, able to stay on her feet when the earth shakes and later shakes again. This is the life of one working near familial fault-lines. Tremors, fissures, eruptions, loss of life, pain and fear comes with the territory. Sure, Lydia can be shaken. In her face we see momentary stress. She squeezes out a tight ‘Well, …’ when beginning a sentence and we know she is editing her thoughts or more likely waiting for a flash of inspiration. Then something comes into her and she is willing to experiment through words and actions.

Enactment Engages the Training Group The effect on the training group is pronounced. They are in the presence of creative genius and it captures their attention. Is this what the clients of the magnetic Minuchin experienced? They notice every moment with Lydia. They follow her movements. Absorb her speech. Wonder what will happen next. Are they in the role of Lydia watching her client? Parents watching their son? Trainees watching their tutor? In the role of the young man, Lydia is a conflicted decision maker. This is a role all human 23 beings know. Multiple realities abound. Lydia’s enactment of her client’s work is assisting the training group to achieve its purposes on countless levels.

Sociometric Relationship between Lydia and the Group Members During the enactment the relationship between Lydia and the group members is one of mutual attraction and strong connection. This sociometric relationship is depicted in Diagram 2 below. When a family consults a family therapist each family member’s central organising roles will be to the fore and the therapist does well to be enthralled by their expressions and to respond with spontaneity. The group members are adequately expressing such a response towards Lydia. This strengthens their relationship with Lydia and lessens the likelihood that either party will act in predetermined, judgemental or stereotyped ways.

Diagram 2: Sociometric Relationship Between Lydia and the Group Members During the Enactment

Sociometric Relationship Between Lydia and the Group Members During the Enactment

Spontaneous + + Enthralled Actor Participants

Lydia Group Members

Mutual Attraction with Strong Connections

At the end of the enactment group members express themselves with nods and murmurs like a polite but anonymous crowd. No one risks too much and these strangled expressions lead them to the safety of inward reflection. Their previously strong connections with Lydia are withdrawing into neutrality. The effect on her is immediate. She stands still and feeling deeply, bends her neck slightly forward and speaks in soliloquy. The sociometric relationship between Lydia and the group members after the enactment is depicted in Diagram 3 on the following page.

Diagram 3: Sociometric Relationship Between Lydia and the Group Members After the Enactment

Sociometric Relationship Between Lydia and the Group Members After the Enactment

Self O O Anonymous Conscious Inward Retreater Thinkers

Lydia Group Members

Mutual Neutrality with Weak Connections

Lydia has experienced something extraordinary with the young man and is profoundly moved. However, she is now unable to continue to give full expression to this and even as she speaks is seeking the safety of her seat. Perhaps she feels inadequately mirrored by the group, causing her to lose spontaneity and to warm-up to some anxiety. If so, this would be an appropriate time for her to receive adequate mirroring to increase her self-acceptance and self-appreciation.

Implications for Further Work with Lydia and the Group When we see Lydia lose her spontaneity, drop her head forward and retreat to her seat there is evidence she has not received adequate mirroring at times in her life when she most needed it. It has been the experience of everyone at one time or other to have significant others respond by moving away. With repetition this can skew personality into following the same formula in relation to self, thus he who is often criticised has low self-esteem and she who has been ignored may seek approval in the wrong places. There is a need for corrective experiences where others move towards you, and ultimately, movement towards oneself in self-acceptance.

In the situation with Lydia, mirroring might involve the group leader inviting several group members to take turns re-enacting the roles of the young man and of Lydia in soliloquy as she has portrayed them. Lydia would be asked to watch these enactments and the group leader may direct her to interact further with one or both of the roles. The latter might include role reversal, interviewing for role or coaching by the group leader to strengthen Lydia’s connection with each role and ultimately with herself. The 25 goal is for embryonic progressive roles to be appreciated. A situation at the end of the mirroring where group members share their personal reflections with Lydia might further increase her self-acceptance.

Family therapists are frequently involved in mirroring. Reframing is an image-altering mirror. Externalising is a relationship-altering mirror. Circular questions reflect back difference. Corrective interventions reflect someone’s cultural norm. Bringing the need for adequate mirroring to the training groups’ attention will assist each member’s professional development and may go some way towards repairing a slight skew noted in Lydia’s functioning.

Further Illustration of Functional Role Development in a Family Therapy Trainee Let us now turn to another illustration of functional role development in a family therapy trainee. To do this we meet Michael, a participant in a multi-day family therapy training event whose work during a particular training session is described below. 26

A SPONTANEOUS ACTOR Working with Michael

A Particular Training Session The reported session is one of a series of training sessions and its basic aim is the development of adequate functioning at the beginning of a family therapy interview. Early in the session the trainer warms up two group members to enact the roles of Liz, a mother, and Mary, her fifteen-year-old daughter. Mary is a resident in the adolescent mental health unit of a large regional hospital. Liz lives 250 km from the hospital. With ‘Liz’ and ‘Mary’ seated in the action space, the trainer calls for another volunteer from the training group to conduct the beginning of the interview. Michael, a member of the training group and a psychiatric nurse, is actively involved in the proceedings.

Description of Michael in the Training Session Michael is responsive to the trainer's request for a volunteer interviewer. “I’ll have a go” he replies and calmly rising from his chair he walks directly into the action space. He is aware of his abilities and the quality of this awareness affects other group members, including the trainer. Michael reminds him of a no-fuss cowboy choosing to ride an unbroken bronco. He enjoys the loose-limbed ease with which Michael sits opposite 'Liz' and 'Mary' and is in tune with Michael when warming him up to commencing the interview.

Trainer: OK Michael, lets have you begin this interview with Liz and Mary. The main thing we are looking for here is engagement with the family in their own style so that you connect with them effectively. My idea is that you will get going for a short while and then I will ask you to stop and we’ll have a look at what is happening. Then you may carry on again for a while longer and there will be other opportunities to stop and discuss what you are doing. How does that sound? Michael: (now warmed up to acting as the therapist) OK, sure (nods to trainer, then turns towards Liz & Mary and pauses for a few seconds before continuing). Michael (therapist): (strong and well modulated voice) Well Liz, its good you’ve been able to come here today for this session. Thanks for making that effort. Liz (mother): Hmm, it’s been quite a hassle getting here, you know. Everything at home and organising the tickets was such a drama. But at least I got here, you know. Michael (therapist): Yeah, it’s good that you got here. And you, Mary, how are things in the unit today? Mary (daughter): (slumping in her chair, avoiding eye contact) OK. Michael (therapist): How was your group this morning? 27

Mary (daughter): OK. Michael (therapist): Not much going on? Mary (daughter): Mmm. (Michael's mouth tightens in response to Mary's replies. He flicks a quick glance to Liz who is staring at the floor, returns briefly to Mary and then focuses on the floor himself. He is unsure of what to say and feels rising anxiety colouring his throat). Michael (therapist): Well … (then to Liz) … I hear Mary got pretty unwell at home and she needed to come into the unit. Liz (mother): Yeah, her medication was totally stuffed up and things went from bad to worse. If they can sort it out she’ll be able to come home again.

Discussion and Analysis of Michael’s Functioning as a Family Therapist to Date In the discussion and analysis that follows we will focus on Michael’s learning style and also on areas where further role development is required. It is hoped this will assist you, the reader, to deepen your experiential learning and your appreciation of Michael's functioning as a family therapist.

Michael Functions on the Basis of his Motivating Force As we have seen, Michael is quick to respond to the trainer's request. A valuable way of interpreting this is to say that his motivating force is now in the foreground. By motivating force, we are referring to the creative impulse in human beings to express, explore, refine or fulfil their abilities, and as such it is closely related to adequacy. This is significant because highlighting adequacy is necessary for healthy human development. This is borne out if we compare a person who is regularly affirmed for the adequacy of what they can do with a person who is regularly criticised for the inadequacy of what they cannot. In his response to the trainer’s request we see Michael functioning adequately.

Group Members Benefit from Michael's Functioning It is easy to imagine Michael's functioning benefiting his fellow group members. They see in Michael someone giving value to his own thoughts, feelings and actions. With the integrative forces in his personality predominant, the primary accent is on his ability. This is how he learns. He is a spontaneous actor working cooperatively with and on behalf of the training group to further their stated aims for being together.

Creative Functioning is Recognised and Enhanced by the Trainer There is evidence the trainer is benefiting from Michael’s spontaneity. We read in the description that he perceives Michael as a no-fuss cowboy mounting an unbroken steed. He is tuning into Michael’s 28 ease and this quality is aroused in himself. This comes through in his informal conversational style, such as, “OK, Michael, lets have you begin this interview …”. Later he uses phrases like “for a short while”, “we’ll have a look” and “how does that sound?” These are immediate responses to Michael’s creativity. They seem to be intended to encourage it to flourish. When Michael responds crisply with “OK, sure” then turns to face the interviewees, he has maintained his spontaneity and is neither dependent upon nor required to attend to the trainer.

Stillness at the Beginning of the Interview When Michael turns towards the interviewees and pauses for a few seconds before speaking he may be valuing the experience of being still prior to embarking upon a new venture. Here is an opportunity to empty the mind of cluttering thoughts and preconceptions. To register the presence of other people in the ‘here and now’ and create an atmosphere conducive to perceiving something new. A person who practices such stillness might be said to be a Calm Presence or a Clear Minded Perceiver. Michael may have integrated this ability into his functioning as a family therapist. We will need to observe more of his functioning to confirm this.

Constructing a Skew in the Therapist / Client Relationship When Michael begins the interview he chooses to address Liz (the mother) first and to acknowledge the effort she has made to attend the session. Perhaps he perceives she has travelled begrudgingly. Whatever the reason, the effect is the alliance between therapist and parent is strengthened. In contrast, when Michael speaks to Mary (the daughter) he asks her ambiguous questions about the unit and the morning group. The weakness of their connection is confirmed by her unenthusiastic responses.

One-way of picturing Michael’s functioning is to imagine him as a Perfunctory Host who is unaware of the faux pas being made. He is constructing a skew in his relationship with mother and daughter which may cause them all some anxiety at the very time each is seeking assurance that this is a safe environment within which to work. How Michael responds to the anxiety tightening around the three of them will be a test of his systemic perceptivity and spontaneity.

Perceiving Functioning as the Presence of Something Rather than the Absence of Something Following the tense exchange with Mary, Michael is described as anxious and unconfident. We have probably all shared his dilemma at one time or another in our lives when not knowing what to say or where to look. In such moments there is loss of contact with the ability to function adequately. If an emphasis on inability or lack of competence predominates, any assessment of functioning is likely to be burdened by a sense of hopelessness. In the discussion that follows, let us see if we can perceive 29

Michael's functioning as the presence of something (motivating and reactive forces) rather than the absence of something (ability). It is anticipated this approach will lead to a more accurate assessment of the further role development required to build on Michael’s natural abilities.

The Role of Reactive Forces in Relieving Emotional Discomfort Experienced by the Therapist When Michael systematically addresses both mother and daughter, we see him giving priority to engaging each person early on in a family therapy session. He appears to be well motivated to create a friendly environment for considerate conversation. When Mary responds unenthusiastically to this approach the tension in their relationship rises. There is evidence for this in the description of Michael’s mouth, eyes and throat. With the rising tension Michael’s motivation to keep going with Mary stalls and emotional reactivity takes over. By emotional reactivity we are referring to the adaptive urge or reactive force designed to relieve a person of emotional discomfort. Consequently, Michael seeks relief by disengaging from Mary both verbally and visually, and later chooses to speak to Liz about Mary’s illness. These responses could be described as ‘emotional cut-off’ from Mary and ‘triangling’ with Liz, both terms having been proposed by Murray Bowen (1978) to whom the interested reader is referred for further reference.

Suggested Role Development to Enable Fuller Expression of Michael’s Motivating Force Michael’s restrictive functioning indicates he is unsure of himself with Mary and Liz. Despite this uncertainty he keeps going as their family therapist. Under these circumstances he is probably relying on various coping roles he has developed over a lifetime, firstly in a myriad of non-professional life experiences, and secondly in his professional career as a psychiatric nurse. There are hints of coping roles in the descriptions of Michael’s behaviour. These hints could only be verified as evidence of specific roles by considerably more observation of Michael over a wider range of situations than those given here. At the moment they are probably best described simply as moments of coping functioning. They include Michael controlling the script of the interview, briefly disassociating through anxiety, avoiding confrontation and inviting Liz into a coalition against Mary. One way of interpreting these behaviours is to say they indicate a person being undermined by fear. This assessment gives a focal point for planning further progressive role development to enable fuller expression of Michael’s motivating force when working as a family therapist.

The Trainer and Michael Make an Appraisal of Michael’s Functioning In the earlier description of the training session Michael is conducting an interview with Liz and Mary. We now continue the description of the session at the point last reached.

When Liz replies to Michael’s comment about Mary’s health, the trainer is quick to act. His voice is warm and crisp as he interrupts the interview to address the whole group. He invites Michael to enter into a period of discussion and analysis on his functioning as a family therapist to date. Michael feels relieved. He exhales deeply, leans back in his chair and joins in the banter, laughter and gesturing spontaneously arising in the group. In the meantime, the trainer arranges for the interview scene to be disbanded and a pair of chairs for Michael and himself to be placed in the action space facing the rest of the training group.

Once seated, the trainer asks Michael to describe what he thinks he did well in the interview. Michael confidently identifies his functioning as a skilled de-escalator when acknowledging Liz’s annoyance at having to travel to the unit for the session, and later, when respecting Mary’s resistance to answering his questions fully. Other group members support his assessment, reporting their own impressions of Michael as a functional professional who kept going under duress and an empathic affirmer whose approach and voice tone supported each client. As the trainer engages with each contributor to draw out and affirm his or her view, their enthusiasm and discernment becomes more believable to Michael and to other group members. Michael’s sense of trust and cooperation in this process increases and he visibly relaxes.

Later on Michael describes feeling fearful and lost during part of the interview. The trainer and some others present feel the reverence of a heartfelt confession in Michael’s manner and they maintain a warm and positive bearing towards him, without drawing undue attention to themselves.

Michael: (to the trainer) When Mary wouldn’t answer me properly, I could feel the fear rising in me and I got worried about what I would do next. That got me lost in my head and my thinking became scrambled and all I could think of was to talk to Liz about Mary being unwell and having to go into the unit. I couldn’t think what else to say. Trainer: (softly) OK. That fits with what you did. You were being an enquirer with Mary and you kept going with her for a while and then you dropped being an enquirer. Michael: Yeah (Michael’s voice tone and small movements of his head indicate he is accepting the trainer’s response). Are you saying I should have kept on trying to find out how she is and what she’s been doing? Trainer: Well, joining with your clients in their own style, that will require a fair bit of tuning in and staying connected. Michael: But they’re such hard work these two. Its easier just to get on with it cause Mary ain’t going to talk anyway. 31

Trainer: That’s where you drop being an enquirer. You tune out. Michael: (shifting his seated posture and looking around at other group members, a smile breaks across his face) When you put it that way …

Further Discussion and Analysis of Michael’s Functioning Further discussion of Michael’s functioning begins from the point where the trainer decides to stop the interview.

The Trainer Acts on the Basis of His Interpretation of Michael’s Functioning The trainer notices Michael express a restrictive solution to the dilemma of Mary’s disinterest in answering his questions and he interprets this as Michael trying to avoid the anxiety associated with not knowing how to be strongly connected with Mary. He imagines that Michael’s personal and professional development to date may have oriented him towards solving problems and that his current capacity to stay present and connected with someone’s pain is probably low. He also takes the view that refining Michael’s skills will be easier if Michael is still warmed up to this particular situation and that ‘right now’ is a choice moment to discuss other options for engaging Mary with him.

Role Analysis Warms Up the Trainee to Both Motivating and Reactive Forces The trainer’s initial focus on the things Michael did well in the interview warms-up Michael to his adequacy and competence as a skilled de-escalator. This sense of competency awakens in him a strong motivating force. Later this motivation assists him to maintain contact with the trainer while revealing the presence of reactive forces. The strength of his warm-up to the reactive forces comes across in his reverent manner. He is in a good position to examine the reactive forces because he has warmed-up to both sides of the focal conflict.

The Effect of Utilising Role Analysis on the Training Group Several group members recognise Michael’s adequacy and the utilisation of role analysis enables them to generate accurate pictures of Michael functioning as a family therapist. They are involved in interpreting his actual functioning in the interview and this brings credibility to their comments. The value of Michael’s work is confirmed and this has an integrative effect on the whole group.

Role Analysis Identifies a Wide Range of Functioning When Michael, the training group and the trainer enter into a cooperative discussion about Michael’s work he is assessed as skilled, functional, empathic, durable, affirmative, adaptable and enquiring. Later he is described as fearful, lost, desperate, confused, avoidant and solution oriented. This range of 32 functioning is identified from less than 15 minutes observation of one interview scenario. If roles are categorically defined from this narrow sample they may have the effect of fragmenting Michael by extrapolating simplistic conclusions about his behaviour.

In contrast, when a role is defined from the observation of a wide range of functioning in a variety of situations over considerable time, the emerging role descriptions have an integrative effect. It is possible to recognise these roles in a multitude of settings, perhaps over a whole lifetime. At this stage, it is premature to make definitive pronouncements about Michael. What we have emerging in the role analysis being undertaken in the training group are preliminary descriptions of functioning, which taken as a whole and tested in a variety of circumstances may contribute to an accurate assessment of Michael’s role system in due course.

The Trainer Functions as a Double to Michael When Michael discloses the conflict between motivating and reactive forces operating on him, the trainer and some members of the training group are quick to tune in with him. This can be seen in their recognition that Michael’s warm-up has changed and in their positively reverent response. There is merit in viewing the trainer’s functioning as doubling. This appears to increase Michael’s acceptance of the trainer and their dialogue takes a turn towards consultation from Michael and coaching from the trainer. Michael is neither dependent upon nor fighting the trainer. His level of spontaneity is rising. The smile of recognition spreading across Michael’s face indicates he has been able to maintain cooperative contact with the trainer. This is an excellent launching pad from which to plan for functional role development.

The Role of Doubling in the Development of Self-Acceptance Before continuing to discuss implications for further work with Michael it may be timely to acknowledge the role of doubling in the development of self-acceptance. The double expresses their attunement to the physical, intellectual and emotional states of another being by joining them in those states. Our first experience of being doubled is generally with our mother soon after birth. When undisturbed the doubling from mother to baby creates the psychological and physiological identity of the baby. Baby and mother are one. The more a person is accurately doubled by mother, father, siblings and many other people during their lifetime, the more accurately they are likely to perceive themselves. With accurate self-perception comes greater recognition of the motivating forces that drive one’s functioning and control over the reactive forces that might otherwise dominate. If doubling is scarce, unavailable or distorted, the converse is likely to apply.

Michael Does Not Function as a Double with Liz and Mary When Michael was interviewing Liz and Mary it would have been appropriate for him to function as a double, however he didn’t. Consequently, his connection with them was weak and he feels increasing anxious. Later during the post-interview discussion Michael receives doubling from the trainer and he relaxes, smiles and flows more. Liz and Mary may have experienced similar benefits if Michael’s spontaneity had been high enough for him to warm-up to doubling them during the interview.

Implications for Further Work with Michael and the Training Group When the training session resumes the utilisation of doubling is likely to be beneficial. Michael might be invited to choose one or more group members to be his double or doubles while he continues the interview with Liz and Mary. The aim of this intervention is to increase Michael’s acceptance of himself as he receives accurate doubling. With self-acceptance comes greater control over anxiety and the ability to be with others who are experiencing pain. This is a form of spontaneity training for both Michael and the double. The trainer might also be Michael’s doubling coach, directing him moment by moment to tune into his clients thoughts, feelings and actions, and to give value to these.

It may also be useful to recognise that opportunities to practice accurate doubling are constantly presented to a trainer and to every group member during the countless interactions that take place in a training group.

Summary The work undertaken with Lydia and Michael illustrates the use of role analysis to inform family therapy training. In each case a small quantity of work is presented and a full role analysis based on their functioning in a variety of situations over a significant period of time is not possible. Nonetheless, applying a role analysis process to what has been observed yields descriptions of functioning that might be elements of roles. These accurately describe actual functioning and enable relevant formulations for further role development to be prepared. Plans are then made for specific psychodramatic methods to be employed in each training group to increase the trainee’s spontaneity and enhance progressive role development. 34

CONCLUDING REMARKS

In modern times, psychodramatic methods, such as concretisation, enactment, doubling and mirroring, have been utilised in family therapy training to teach systemic concepts and practical skills. The primary interest of this paper has been the utilisation of role analysis, which is recommended to the reader as providing an effective framework for the personal and professional development of family therapy trainees.

This paper has presented the point of view that role analysis aids both trainer and trainee. A role description presents the observable functioning of a trainee in a readily identifiable form to both parties. It alludes to a wide range of thoughts, feelings and actions, and creates an integrative image of the trainee in-situ. The roles enacted by a trainee are related to their level of spontaneity and creativity, with higher spontaneity favouring more functional roles. Thus, spontaneity training is closely related to progressive role development and this is reflected in the interventions in the family therapy training sessions presented in this paper.

It is relatively easy to recognise skill and mastery when observing an expert family therapist in action, however converting their functioning into a form against which the current abilities of a trainee are recognisable can be much harder. We have seen in this paper that role analysis is a credible means of describing a trainee’s responses to those dynamic forces that motivate a therapist to move forward and those that would hold him or her back. It enables both trainee and trainer to see one another across the gap between novice and competence.

What a wonderful thing it is to be accurately seen. When the adequacy of our functioning is recognised by accurate role analysis our true nature as creative beings is confirmed. Then the sun will shine on the seed of universal creativity lying within each of us and it may flourish.

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