• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
PCFTTC

PCFTTC

Philadelphia Child and Family Therapy Training Center

  • Home
  • CE Courses
  • Blog
  • ESFT
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Faculty
  • Publications
  • Services
    • Supervision
    • Continuing Education
    • Certification Programs
    • Systemic Training
    • FBMHS Training
  • Training Portal
  • Contact Us

Time constraints in systemic family therapy and effective intervention…

August 9, 2024 by Jennifer Benjamin Leave a Comment

Time constraints in therapy sessions can be a significant challenge for systemic family therapists, as the complexity of family dynamics often requires more time than is typically available. Given these constraints, therapists must employ effective and efficient interventions to make the most of each session. One powerful technique that can help address this challenge is the use of enactments to promote change in interactional patterns within the family.

Time Constraints in Sessions

Therapy sessions are typically limited to 50-60 minutes, a relatively short period to address the intricate and deep-seated issues within a family system. Therapists may feel pressured to prioritize immediate concerns, leaving little time to explore underlying patterns that contribute to ongoing problems. Additionally, when multiple family members are involved, each with their own perspectives and needs, it can be challenging to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard within the time constraints. This can result in surface-level discussions that do not address the root causes of dysfunction, limiting the effectiveness of the therapy.

Enactments as an Effective Intervention

Enactments offer a focused and efficient method for addressing these challenges by directly engaging family members in the therapeutic process. Instead of merely discussing issues abstractly, enactments involve having family members role-play specific interactions or conflicts that typically occur in their daily lives. This approach allows therapists to observe and address problematic interactional patterns in real-time, making the intervention more immediate and impactful.

Promoting Change in Interactional Patterns

Through enactments, therapists can guide family members to experiment with new ways of interacting. For example, if a family struggles with communication breakdowns during conflicts, the therapist might ask them to reenact a recent argument. During the enactment, the therapist can intervene to encourage the use of active listening, “I” statements, and other positive communication strategies. This hands-on practice helps family members experience and internalize new interactional patterns more effectively than through verbal instruction alone.

Maximizing Session Effectiveness

By utilizing enactments, therapists can maximize the effectiveness of their sessions despite time constraints. Enactments allow for immediate feedback and correction, making it possible to address deep-rooted issues in a short period. The experiential nature of enactments also ensures that the changes practiced in session are more likely to be remembered and applied in real-life situations, leading to lasting improvements in family dynamics.

Conclusion

In the face of time constraints, enactments provide a powerful tool for systemic family therapists to promote meaningful change in interactional patterns. By focusing on real-time practice and immediate feedback, enactments can enhance the effectiveness of therapy sessions, helping families break free from negative patterns and develop healthier ways of relating to one another.

Filed Under: Facebook Follow Up

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Today we celebrate belonging, connection, and community – your social ecology…
  • The 2025 National Wraparound the World Conference was a tremendous success!
  • Moving Beyond Compliance: Understanding First- and Second-Order Change
  • Protected: Facing the Hidden Crisis: Addressing Child-to-Caregiver Violence in Family Systems
  • Everyone has a culture, which is defined as more than race or ethnicity (La Roche, 2013, 2024).

Footer

Philadelphia Child and Family Therapy Training Center

P.O. Box 21287 Philadelphia, PA 19114

Phone: (215) 266-6157
Email: info@pcfttc.com

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • PCFTTC Continuing Education Policies
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 Philadelphia Child and Family Therapy Training Center. All rights reserved.

ESFT Post-Graduate Certificate Program Registration

Trainee Info (Admission)

  • Contact and Demographic Information

  • Clinical Experience and Current Employer

  • Drop files here or
    Max. file size: 512 MB.
    • Educational Background

    • Max. file size: 512 MB.
    • Max. file size: 512 MB.
    • Indicate How Many Credits You Had In The Following Areas (3-12)

    • This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Agency and Organization Training: New Participant

    Thank you for your interest in the PCFTTC Agency and Organization training programs. Please complete the form below and we will contact you with next steps.


    • Program Information


    • Contact Information

    • This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Clinical Supervision Program: New Participant

    Thank you for your interest in the PCFTTC Clinical Supervision programs. Please complete the form below and we will contact you with next steps.


    • Program Information


    • Contact Information

    • This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Home Based Training: New Participant

    Thank you for your interest in the PCFTTC Home Based Training programs. Please complete the form below and we will contact you with next steps.


    • Program Information


    • Contact Information

    • This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    In-Person Workshops

    Some intro content about going to the Online In-Person Workshop site.

    Registration

    Online CEUs

    Some intro content about going to the Online CEU site.

    Registration

    Creating Competence From Chaos: A Comprehensive Guide To Home-Based Services (1998) by Marion Lindblad-Goldberg, Martha Dore and Lenora Stern, W.W. Norton, New York.

    Creating Competence from Chaos

    Buy On Amazon

    Children with emotional and behavioral disorders are often adrift in our society, lacking adequate mental health care or caught between several child-serving systems, such as child welfare, juvenile justice, and the schools.

    In Pennsylvania, a commitment has been made, on a statewide basis, to serve these children and strengthen their vulnerable families through a home-based approach grounded in ecosystemic thinking and practice. This book tells the story of Pennsylvania’s evolving treatment program, providing a model for other professionals who believe that a family’s needs are best met through individually tailored, family-centered, community-based, culturally competent, and outcome-oriented services.

    This is a complete, comprehensive guide, covering everything from planning and development of home-based services through supervision and training of home-based practitioners and evaluation of treatment outcomes. Particular attention is given to the clinical challenges faced by home-based therapists working with families where children are depressed and perhaps suicidal, oppositional and defiant, out-of-control and aggressive, or hyperactive/impulsive. These families commonly have multiple problems, complex histories, and a negative view of outside “helpers.”

    Delivered in the family’s home and involving parents as partners, the services described here work to improve child and family functioning through family therapy, creation of collaborative links between appropriate community and family resources, and provision of family support funds for concrete services such as transportation, respite care, and emergencies. Home-based treatment serves both children at risk for out-of-home placement due to a diagnosis of severe mental illness or behavioral disorders and children being discharged from inpatient hospitals and psychiatric residential placements.

    The authors, active at every level of program conceptualization and implementation, share their wealth of experience with readers. Their advice and case studies move from the big picture to the small details of where to sit in a family’s home, what to say, and how to think about a problematic situation. Several appendices of forms used for assessment, evaluation, and training add to the book’s practical value. Theoretically sound and fully practical, this guide to home-based services will encourage all professionals serving children to involve their families and communities-and to meet them where they live.


    Quotations from Professional Reviews

    “This book provides the blueprint for this groundbreaking care system, with practical guidelines for starting a home-based system on the right foot; maximizing collaboration…with agencies; and, most important, delivering hands-on help to at-risk children and vulnerable families. Therapy chapters run the gamut of skills needed for providing home-based care…Case examples…illustrate systemic intervention used in a variety of family situations.”
    Behavioral Science

    “This book lives up to its…promise of being a ‘comprehensive guide to home-based services.’ Clearly written with many case examples, it fills a hole in the family therapy literature.”
    Eric McCollum, The Family Therapy Networker

    “This wonderful volume takes a huge step towards specifying competence in a field that has tremendous potential. I highly recommend this pragmatic and insightful text to practitioners and administrators alike.”
    Scott W. Henggeler, Ph.D.

    “This book about home-based services is written from the perspective of three disciplines-policy making, clinical services, and research. Reading this book is like opening one of those fertile Russian nesting dolls… Even when we get to the smallest details about the training of home-based staff and the supervision and organization of treatment, we understand how they are interconnected and fit within the big picture.”
    Salvador Minuchin, MD.

    “This richly illustrated book is an excellent resource. It should be a reference for all professionals who work with children and an essential text for those who provide home-based care.”
    Lee Combrinck-Graham, MD.