Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-wxhwt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T14:29:51.094Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stages of Change Theory in Family Therapy for Sibling Sexual Assault

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2012

Elizabeth McNevin
Elizabeth McNevin*
Affiliation:
Queensland Association of Family Therapy, Brisbane
*
Address for correspondence: Elizabeth McNevin, PO Box 8218, Woolloongabba QLD 4102, Australia. Email: Emm1@y7mail.com
Get access

Abstract

Family therapy understands the benefits of therapeutically supported dialogue amongst family members when there are challenging themes and topics that need to be discussed. This paper is an attempt to explore ways that family therapists can work with family members who are thrust into therapy rather than ‘voluntarily’ signing up for it. It applies ideas from the drug and alcohol field such as Stages of Change theory and Motivational Interviewing. The paper explores how these ideas and approaches might help family therapists to formulate a concept of resistance and to make helpful dialogue more likely. They are applied to families experiencing sibling sexual assault, where they become involved with a legal response that necessitates a therapeutic intervention.

Keywords

family therapystages of changemotivational interviewingsibling sexual assault
Type
Articles
Information
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 343 - 356
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arkowitz, H. (2002). Toward an integrative perspective on resistance to change. Psychotherapy in Practice, 58(2), 219–227.Google ScholarPubMed
Becvar, D. S., & Becvar, R. J. (2003). Family therapy. A systemic integration (5th ed.). USA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Caffaro, J., & Conn-Caffaro, A. (2006). Sibling abuse trauma: Assessment and intervention strategies for children, families and adults. New York: Hawthorn Maltreatment and Trauma Press.Google Scholar
Children's Court of Queensland (2007). 14th annual report 2006–2007.Google Scholar
Coggins, P. (2003). Keynote speech to the Restorative Justice Conference. UK: Press Office, Home Office.Google Scholar
Corcoran, J. (2002). The transtheoretical Stages of Change model and Motivational Interveiwing for building maternal supportiveness in cases of sexual abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 11, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daly, K. (2004). Restorative justice and sexual assault: An archival study of court and conference cases. Lecture presented October and November 2004 to the University of Cambridge, Oxford University, the University of Strathclyde, and the London School of Economics.Google Scholar
de Shazer, S. (1984). The death of resistance. Family Process, 23, 11–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DiGiorgio-Miller, J. (1998). Sibling incest: Treatment of the family and the offender. Journal of Child Welfare, 77, 335–346.Google ScholarPubMed
Forrester, D., McCambridge, J., Waissbein, C., Emlyn-Jones, R., & Rollnick, S. (2008). Child risk and parental resistance: Can motivational interviewing improve the practice of child and family social workers in working with parental alcohol misuse? British Journal of Social Work, 38, 1302–1319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibney, P. (2004). Lecture notes from Master of Social Work course, University of Queensland.Google Scholar
Hunter, S. (2011). Disclosure of child sexual abuse as a life long process: Implications for health professionals. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 32, 159–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koss, M., Bachar, K., & Hopkins, C. (2006). Disposition and treatment of juvenile sex offenders from the perspective of restorative justice. In Barbaree, H. & Marshall, W. (Eds.), The juvenile sex offender (2nd ed.). New York: Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Littell, J., & Girvin, H., (2004). Ready or not: Uses of the Stages of Change model in child welfare. Child Welfare, LXXXIII, 341–366.Google Scholar
Madsen, W. (2009). Collaborative helping: A practice framework for family centred services. Family Process, 48, 103–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNevin, E. (2010). Applied restorative justice as a complement to systemic family therapy: Theory and practice implications for families experiencing intra-familial adolescent sibling incest. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 31(1), 60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messer, S. (2002). A psychodynamic perspective on resistance in psychotherapy: Vive la resistance. Psychotherapy in Practice, 58, 157–163.Google ScholarPubMed
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (1991). Motivational Interviewing: Preparing people to change addictive behaviour. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Moyers, T., & Rollnick, S. (2002). A motivational interviewing perspective on resistance in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy in Practice, 58, 185–193.Google ScholarPubMed
Phillips-Green, M. J. (2002). Sibling incest. The Family Journal: Counselling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 10, 195–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prochaska, J. O. (2006). How do people change, and how can we change to help more people? In Hubble, M., Duncan, B., & Miller, S. (Eds.), The heart and soul of change: what works in therapy. Washington: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Prochaska, J. O., & Diclemente, C. C. (1984). The transtheoretical approach: Crossing the traditional boundaries of therapy. Malabar, FL: Krieger.Google Scholar
Sprenkle, D., Blow, A., & Dickey, M. (2006). Common factors and other non-technique variables in marriage and family therapy. In Hubble, M., Duncan, B., & Miller, S. (Eds.), The heart and soul of change: What works in therapy. Washington: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Stagoll, B. (2006). Gregory Bateson at 100. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 27, 121–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinglass, P. (2009). Systemic-motivational therapy for substance abuse disorders: An integrative model. Journal of Family Therapy, 31, 155–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tierney, D., & McCabe, M. (2004). The assessment of motivation for behaviour change among sex offenders against children: An investigation of the utility of the Stages of Change questionnaire. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 10, 237–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trotter, C. (2006). Working with involuntary clients: A guide to practice. NSW: Allen & Un win.Google Scholar
White, M. (1986). Negative explanation, restraint and double description: A template for family therapy. Family Process 25, 169–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed