CHAPTER 4: STRATEGIC AND SYSTEMIC MODELS

Chapter 4: Strategic and Systemic Models 63 The models primarily associated with strategic therapy are the MRI brief therapy and the Haley/Madanes strategic models. They are presented below, together with Bandler and Grinder’s model, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). MENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (MRI) The earliest strategic model came from the work at th e Mental Research Institute (MRI) founded in 1959 in Palo Alto by Bateson’s colleague, Don Jackson, who was joined by Jay Haley, Virginia Satir, John Weakland, Paul Watzlawick, Arthur Bodin, and Janet Beavin ( Nichols & Schwartz, 1998 ) . They were interested in family communication patterns and feedback loop mechanisms (see below). The MRI group published many articles in the 1960s and 1970s and started one of the first formal training programs in family therapy ( Nichols & Schwartz, 1998 ) . In 1967 Haley left MRI for the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. Brief Therapy Center . In 1967 the Brief Therapy Center opened at MRI. As with all strategic therapies, the goal of treatment is to change the presenting complaint rather than to interpret the interactions to the family or to explore the past. The therapist first assesses the cycle of problematic interactions, then breaks the cycle by using either straightforward or paradoxical directives ( Piercy et al., 1996 ) . In this model the therapist designs or selects a task or directive in order to solve the problem. Thus, the therapist assumes full responsibility for the success or failure of treatment. THEORY OF NORMAL DEVELOPMENT AND DYSFUNCTION MRI therapists do not speculate about normative patterns of development or use specific criteria to measure the health of a family. The model is more focused on techniques for change than on theoretical constructs ( Piercy et al., 1996 ) . They are not concerned with changing the organization of a family (e.g., its hierarchy or power structure). Rather, they focus on the faulty cycles of interaction that are usually set into motion by misguided attempts to solve problems. Instead of solving the problem, the family’s attempts can maintain or worsen it. Problems are not viewed as having linear causes; rather, a problem behavior is just one point in a repetitive pattern. Causality is circular. MRI therapists are guided by the principles derived from cybernetics . Cybernetics i s the study of how information-processing systems are self-correcting, controlled by feedback loops. Feedback loops are the mechanisms or cycles of interactions through which information is returned to the system and exerts an influence on it. There are both negative and positive feedback loops. Negative Feedback Loops a re ways that families correct a deviation in family functioning so as to return it to a previous state o f homeostasis . Positive Feedback Loops (Deviation Amplification) arise as a family attempts to add new information into the system. This can occur as a part of the growth process or increasing levels of complexity. Positive feedback loops are assumed to be responsible for the development of problems in families as they attempt solutions that worsen or