Victoria C. Dickerson

Positioning Oneself Within an Epistemology: Refining Our Thinking about Integrative Approaches.

Integrative approaches seem to be paramount in the current climate of family therapy and other psychotherapies. However, integration between and among theories and practices can only occur within a specific epistemology. This article makes a distinction between three different epistemologies: individualizing, systems, and poststructural. It then makes the argument that one can integrate theories within epistemologies and one can adopt practices and some theoretical concepts across theories and across epistemologies, but that it is impossible to integrate theories across epistemologies. It further states that although social constructionism has influenced much of contemporary psychological thinking, because of the divergence between a structural and a poststructural approach, constructionism looks different depending upon ones epistemological stance. Examples of integration within epistemologies and of what looks like integration across epistemologies (but is not) further illustrate these important distinctions. The conclusions reached here are crucial to our philosophical considerations, our pedagogical assumptions, and implications for both research and a reflexive clinical practice.

Patriarchy, power, and privilege: a narrative/poststructural view of work with couples.

Poststructural/narrative therapists working with heterosexual couples position themselves to attend to issues of power and privilege and how these variables differentially affect each gendered member of the couple. The poststructural therapist understands patriarchy as the grand narrative that influences us all, often invisibly, and creates conditions for people to respond outside what might be their preferences for performing relationships. This article takes the reader inside the work with couples and demonstrates how the narrative/poststructural therapist attends to aspects of the conversation, asks questions, makes comments, and otherwise intervenes with couples using patriarchy as a lens for understanding. Rather than challenging patriarchy in how it influences men and women, the intention is to bring forth more preferred ways of being that are outside of or on the other side of patriarchal effects. This way of working thickens peoples accounts of themselves and of their relationships so that they might live in more satisfactory ways.

The Advance of Poststructuralism and Its Influence on Family Therapy

Postmodernism began to influence family therapy very early in the 1980s with articles referencing postmodern ideas, focusing on meaning and multiplicity. With the appearance of narrative therapy on the scene in the 1990s there was a shift toward poststructural thinking, which refined the movement and politicized the clinical work. Even with a bit of a backlash, whether because this was a new idea or it somehow threatened a positivistic culture, a poststructural view has continued to have effects on family therapy. This article explores the variety of influences: the expansion of narrative ideas, the innovation of Madsens collaborative helping, and also more nuanced effects. I argue that a poststructural view has effectively changed how many family therapists think and may also be subtly influencing how they might work.