ABSTRACT
Systems theory is the foundation for many family therapy approaches. Based on a model of information processing and feedback, families try to maintain stability—homeostasis. The family’s functioning level is predicated on the patterned relationships that have developed over time that determine who is in which subsystem and the associated boundaries between those subsystems. These boundaries are determined by the family’s rules; overt and covert rules that let people know how they are allowed to be with one another and with those outside of the family. When family members stray too far from the family’s homeostasis, various processes become enacted to try to regulate the members’ behaviors so that they shift back into the standard way of being. These processes are best seen using a circular epistemology where mutuality between members demonstrates the interconnectedness of people and the development and maintenance of symptoms. This chapter presents an overview of the key ideas of systems theory that undergird much of family therapy theory and practice.
