Integrative Family Therapy With Childhood Chronic Illness: An Ethics of Practice

Abstract

A challenge for contemporary family therapists is negotiating differences between modern and postmodern frameworks in the practice context. Modernists espouse a systemic metaphor, use evidence-based and interventive approaches, including strategic, structural- or solution-focused techniques, and believe in the therapist's knowledge, expertise and power to influence individuals or families to change. On the other hand, postmodernists follow a social constructionist, dialogical or narrative paradigm, which identifies the main ingredient of therapy as language, conversation, understanding and the therapist's ‘not knowing’ stance in eliciting a person's expertise and story. Yet many practitioners adopt a middle way between these paradigm polarities, one that is less theory-driven and more pragmatic, flexible, integrative and practice-based. This is consistent with evidence-based practice and research demonstrating common factors across all therapies. The value of preserving systemic thinking in family therapy is recognised while reaching forward to a postmodern social constructionist and dialogical approach. The article describes this integrative stance in family therapy as paramodern based on an ethics of practice. This is illustrated by a detailed case study of integrative family therapy, which addresses anxiety, anger and sleeping issues associated with a chronic childhood illness called Perthe's disease.