Its basis is to understand the lives of the family and family members, and defines three basic codes to fulfill the family structure and functions.
1)Boundary
2)Cooperation
3)Power
Boundary: It defines who will participate in the family and how. It regulates the amount and quality of contact and communication between family members. The boundaries of the family; It can range from a lack of dialogue leading to lack of communication, where individualization prevails, to a state of extreme interconnectedness, where everything is experienced together and there is no differentiation. While lack of communication makes it difficult for family members to hold together, an overly permeable relationship is a situation where the existence of individuals has no bearing, everything is defined by the family, and the functions of family members are confused. Both extremes disrupt the functionality of the family. The redrawing of boundaries offers a more flexible model in which there is individualization within the concept of family.
Cooperation: It is defined as the family member joining or opposing others while performing a task. Cooperation and harmony within the family are already seen as inevitable, but they may lose their function when they become fixed and unchangeable. It is necessary to aim to create a functional cooperation that provides flexibility regarding who will be with whom in many situations the family encounters.
Power: It is defined as the influence of each family member on the results of family activities. If the power in the family is firmly in the hands of one person or no one else, it is dysfunctional. The most functional distribution of family power can be defined as strong parental cooperation in an environment where all family members have some power.
The main purpose of structural family therapy is to bring these 3 elements into a functional form. In order to discover these 3 elements, the therapy aims to define the roles of family members. Most of the time, it is necessary to take advantage of a crisis to identify patterns and reorganize dysfunctional points.
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