2008 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 28-41
In the field of psychotherapy and counseling, the movement of psychotherapy integration has been actively discussed for the last 20 years. Integration of individual and family therapies is one of the most interesting topics in this movement, especially for family therapists.
The purpose of this paper is to explore effective ways to incorporate the methodology of individual interviews into family conjoint interviews, and vice versa. The aim of the integration described here is to generate more effective therapeutic procedures for a broader range of clients.
In this paper, a case study of an adolescent client, who has been socially withdrawn for four years, is presented and discussed from the point of integrating different types of interviews. The family members are sometimes interviewed individually by the therapist, and, on other occasions, they are also asked to sit together in the same room (with the client), and try to have a meaningful conversation among the members.
While individual interview is generally effective in finding and confirming self-identification, family interviews are of great use in order to have better understanding of other members' thoughts and emotions within the family. Importantly, seeing clients in the setting of family therapy, prior to individual interviews, brings a substantial change of atmosphere in the therapy room, and has clients keep a favorable image of family meetings in their own minds. In other words, appropriate and well-scheduled integration of different types of interviews may make individuals become ready for the family work.
