Systems-Centered Therapy for Groups

Systems-Centered Therapy (SCT) is an innovative approach to psychotherapy that synthesizes a finely tuned awareness of the defensive role of anxiety, depression, and other common presenting problems with a groundbreaking analysis of the phases of group development. This seminal volume from SCT originator Yvonne M. Agazarian introduces the author's theory of living human systems and explicitly maps out its operationalization in a structured treatment model applicable to work with any population. Shifting the central focus of the therapy group from self to system, the book explicates essential new methods, such as functional subgrouping and boundarying, and shows how active intervention in the group process can direct the energy of members toward the goals of therapy. Extensive illustrative dialogues elucidate the ways that the SCT approach both frees groups from unproductive patterns and helps members achieve a more authentic, integrated experience of the here-and-now.