Working with Relationship Triangles The One-Two-Three of Psychotherapy

by Guerin, Philip J.; Fogarty, Thomas F.; Fay, Leo F.; Kautto, Judith Gilbert

• ISBN13: 9781606239179
• ISBN10: 1606239171
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-23
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

This groundbreaking book provides clinicians with a hands-on guide to working with many different kinds of relationship triangles in therapy with families, couples, and individuals.

Author Biography

Philip J. Guerin, Jr., MD, the founding director of the Center for Family Learning in Rye Brook, New York, is the originator of the genogram and cognitive systems models of psychotherapy for families, couples, and individuals. A former faculty member at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Fordham University Graduate School of Psychology, and the University of South Alabama School of Medicine, he is the senior author of the highly regarded text The Evaluation and Treatment of Marital Conflict.

 

Thomas F. Fogarty, MD (deceased), a cofounder of the Center for Family Learning, served on the faculties of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Pastoral Counseling Institutes of St. John’s University and Iona College. Highly regarded as a creative teacher and clinician, Dr. Fogarty practiced his model of family systems in Westchester County, New York, for more than 40 years.

 

Leo F. Fay, PhD, a retired Associate Professor of Sociology at Fairfield University, now resides in Arizona and serves on the visiting faculty of the Center for Family Learning. He is a coauthor of The Evaluation and Treatment of Marital Conflict.

 

Judith Gilbert Kautto, ACSW, a faculty member and former Director of Postgraduate Education at the Center for Family Learning, maintains a full-time private practice in Westchester County, New York, and is a coauthor of The Evaluation and Treatment of Marital Conflict.

Table of Contents

Relationship Triangles: Evolution of the Concept	p. 1
A Historical Perspective	p. 3
The Relevance of Triangles in Clinical Context	p. 20
Three Types of Triangles	p. 22
The Clinical Centrality of Triangles	p. 29
Addressing Triangles in Therapy	p. 37
Self-Focus	p. 42
What a Triangle is Not	p. 46
The Structure of Relationship Triangles	p. 51
How to See a Triangle	p. 51
Dissecting a Triangle's Structure	p. 58
Emotional Process within Triangular Structure	p. 75
Seeing Relationship Process	p. 75
Process Questions	p. 81
Emotional Process and Triangles	p. 85
The Interaction of Structure, Process, and Function	p. 93
The Relationship of Structure and Process	p. 93
Mechanisms of Triangle Activation	p. 95
Figuring Out Function	p. 98
Introducing Triangles in Individual Therapy	p. 106
Using Triangles in Individual Therapy	p. 109
Placing Individuals' Symptoms in Context	p. 116
Indications for Work with Triangles in Individual Therapy	p. 123
Coaching and Direct Intervention with Triangles in Individual Therapy	p. 129
Cases that Present with Relationship Problems	p. 130
Cases with Developmental Problems	p. 132
Cases of Refractory Anxiety or Depression	p. 140
The Therapy Triangle	p. 145
Extra familial Triangles in Marital Conflict	p. 149
The Extramarital Affair Triangle	p. 151
Social Network Triangles	p. 161
Occupational Triangles	p. 166
Marital Triangles within the Family	p. 169
Primacy of Attachment and Hierarchy of Influence	p. 169
Displacement of Conflict	p. 171
In-Law Triangles	p. 172
The Primary Parental Triangle of Each Spouse	p. 184
Triangles with the Children	p. 187
Child and Adolescent Triangles	p. 190
School-Related Triangles	p. 190
Social Network Triangles	p. 194
Symptomatic Child Triangles	p. 198
Symptomatic Child and Adolescent Triangles within the Family	p. 204
The Target Child	p. 204
The Parent and Sibling Triangle	p. 207
The Sibling Subsystem Triangle	p. 209
The Three-Generational Triangle	p. 213
Stepfamily Triangles	p. 216
Conclusion: Becoming a "Triangle Doctor"	p. 222
The Pervasiveness of Triangles in Relationships and in Therapy	p. 222
Methods of Management of Relationship Triangles	p. 223
Summary and Conclusion	p. 234
References	p. 237
Index	p. 239
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