ABSTRACT
Chapter 8 discusses structural family assessments and explains how family functioning and behaviors are negatively impacted when the parental hierarchy and child subsystem are out of alignment. Dysfunction can be defined as the product of an imbalance in the family structure. The “unnatural” roles that family members—primarily children—are forced to take in order to balance the family system will have a lifelong influence on a child. The more common roles are scapegoat, hero, mascot, or lost child. Often overlooked are children of workaholic parents, who can experience a similar outcome because workaholism—as with any addiction or compulsion—manifests as emotionally and/or physically dysfunctional parenting. When a child is the “identified patient,” the family structure needs to be assessed and considered as part of the therapy process. Children receiving individual therapy will often regress and revert after a brief “honeymoon period” because a family system’s homeostasis, its need for restorative balance, is powerful. It is prudent to see the whole family in sessions whenever possible.
