Developing a Personal Integration in Family Therapy: Principles for Model Construction and Practice

This paper sets forth generic guidelines for the clinician to observe in building and practicing a personal integrative method in family therapy. Principles are articulated around five foci: (a) the need for a personal paradigm, (b) the assimilation of aspects of scholastic approaches, (c) the role of the person of the therapist, (d) the adaptation of the model to specific cases, and (e) the pathways toward the development of a personal integrative model. An informed view of integrative practice is emphasized, in which a theoretical base is created, strategies and techniques are related to this paradigm, and the treatment of specific cases is linked to the general model.