Since the late 1990s, psychoanalysis has undergone a renaissance in family therapy (Larner, 2000). Family therapy initially rejected psychoanalytic notions, especially with regard to gender differences, and positioned itself in opposition to psychoanalytic approaches. However, as Larner (2000) has pointed out, post-modern sensibility, especially deconstruction (Derrida, 1998), have "mellowed fundamental ideologies in both disciplines, an approach as 'both/and' rather than 'either/or'" (Larner, 2000, p.62). This paradigmatic shift is grounded in therapeutic practice, which is informed by various theories and uses them eclectically, as they appear fit for a given situation.
Accordingly, systemic family therapy does not have to exclude psychoanalytic notions. Systemic family therapy can integrate the "psychoanalytic story" of each family member in the overall systemic approach (Larner, 2000). Exploring the symbolic, unconscious and emotional inner life of each member within the system allows to "illuminate the intricacies of the therapeutic relationship" (Larner, 2000, p.62).
In the case under consideration in this assignment a psychoanalytic approach to systemic family therapy would seek not just to look at family interaction but also the "internal world" of each family member and of the family as a whole (Brodie & Wright, 2002). From a systemic perspective the problem within the family of Mary, John and their three children is that through John's job loss the "balance" within the family has become unsettled. Losing a job is an external stress factor that can easily unsettle balances within a family or magnify imbalances that might already have existed prior to the occurrence of this external stress factor. The symptoms of this change in family dynamic is that the spouses argue frequently, John consumes more alcohol than is probably good for him, and that the children behave unruly. This unruly and aggressive behavi...