Traditional approaches to trauma treatment for anxiety, disrespect, violence, suicide ideation, and similar issues frequently focus on the individual in order to create change.
Non-traditional therapy draws on systems thinking in its view of the family as an emotional unit. This approach, upon which Dr. Scott Sells developed the FST | Family Systems Trauma model, holds that traumatized children are inseparable from their network of relationships. By involving the family, the extended family, and the village in trauma treatment, second-order change occurs. Behavior changes in one family member likely influence systemic change, thus balancing the way the family functions.
FST Techniques blend the many approaches to family systems therapy including Salvador Minuchin’s structural family therapy, Jay Haley’s and Milton Erickson’s strategic family therapy, and intergenerational therapy.
In the clip below, Dr. Sells describes the differences between traditional and non-traditional therapy in addressing extreme disrespect.
