The Intersectional Growth Model: The Satir Growth Model Informed by Intersectional Feminism
- PDF / 688,485 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 30 Downloads / 220 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
The Intersectional Growth Model: The Satir Growth Model Informed by Intersectional Feminism Valerie A. Maxey1 Accepted: 18 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The Satir Growth Model (SGM) is one of the foundational models in the couple/marriage and family therapy (C/MFT) field. Satir’s model lacks the overt use of a critical lens for conceptualizing power related to the intersection of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Retrospective analyses of Satir’s work suggest that she did not avoid gendered issues of power in practice yet the SGM model does not offer specific instruction on how to work with these constructs in systemic therapy. This paper delineates the application of intersectional feminism onto Satir’s growth model as a critical lens for conceptualizing systems of power and oppression and the resulting impact on client lives. Intersectional feminism modernizes Satir’s Growth Model by bringing a foundational C/MFT model into alignment with the present emphasis on diversity and social justice in the systemic therapy fields. This manuscript provides a concise summary of SGM and highlights the need for infusing SGM with intersectional feminism to produce the Intersectional Growth Model (IGM). An overview of the key critically-informed tenets and assumptions of the intersectional growth model (IGM) is provided. Practices related to goals, the therapeutic relationship, assessment, diagnosis, interventions, and the change process are described. Keywords Intersectional feminism · Satir growth model · Couple and family therapy · Intersectional growth model · Compassion · Critically-informed therapy models
Introduction During the early days of the marriage and family therapy profession, Virginia Satir was one of a few women who emerged as a pioneer and leader in the burgeoning field of relational and systemic therapies. Satir’s therapeutic approach is rooted in humanistic, systemic, and experiential epistemologies and foregrounds self-worth and congruent communication as central constructs through which change is produced (Satir 1983, 1988; Satir and Baldwin 1983; Satir et al. 1991). Sadly, Satir passed away in 1988. The Satir Growth Model (SGM) was formalized posthumously by Satir’s colleagues. Towards the end of her life, Satir began focusing on the idea of healing the world and conceptualizing approaches to healing in multiple varied contexts across the globe. As the C/MFT field has grown and embraced * Valerie A. Maxey [email protected] 1
Human Development and Family Science: Marriage and Family Therapy Emphasis, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
the importance of clinical awareness of gender, power, and diversity in C/MFT practice, it has become clear that SGM must evolve to include a critical lens (Lee and Rovers 2016). This manuscript applies intersectional feminism to SGM as a critical lens for conceptualizing systems of power and oppression and the resulting impact on client lives. Over time the C/MFT field
Data Loading...
