The Narratives Which Connect…

Section A: Introduction, literature review and methodology

Orientation to chapters 1 - 4

Section A contains four chapters. Chapter one is the introduction to the research project. The background for the project is here outlined. In chapter two the literature review is presented and chapter three contains the design of the study. In chapter four the process of analysing the material is presented.

1. Introduction to the Research Project

“The family therapist usually has the same problems in his own family that are present in the families he sees professionally and that he has a responsibility to define himself in his own family if he is to function adequately in his professional work.”

Murray Bowen, 1978

“Every Schoolboy Knows…”¹

The major aim of this research project is to look into some meaningful and important connections between Norwegian family therapists’ personal and private lives and how their clinical practice may be created and constructed. The main research question is: “How does the therapist's own life history and personal and private experiences influence the way she/he understands and practises systemic family therapy?”

The narratives that connect personal and private life to clinical family therapy practice have long been overlooked or treated to minimal attention in family therapy education in Norway. Little research has been done on this topic in Norway, or in the wider field of psychotherapy research. In Bergin and Garfield’s “Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change” Beutler et al. claim that: “…recent research is noticeably sparse, or even absent, on the effect of therapist personality, well-being, personal values, and religious viewpoints on outcomes” (Beutler et al., 2004, p. 290).

Janine Roberts, a North American practitioner, makes a distinction between a personal and a professional relationship, and this distinction is crucial to my research. She says:

“Clients and therapists are in an intimate paid relationship, not a personal relationship, but nevertheless, one with many personal aspects. Safeguards come with this contract, along with limitations. Therapists and clients together have to create in each therapy a comfort with the personal within the professional relationship” (Roberts, 2005, p. 62).

The context for my research is the therapy room on the one hand, and the therapist’s own personal and private life on the other hand. In my research I seek to understand why we continue to separate what we say, we know is important, from what we actually do in family therapy practice and training.

Eggs

In Mind and Nature Bateson claimed, “Without context, words and actions have no meaning at all” (Bateson, 1979, p. 24). If I were to rephrase this quotation and say, “Without context, a research question has no meaning at all” he would probably have agreed with me. In the fall of 2004, a story dealing with life and death was reported in the Norwegian media (Aftenposten, 11.03.2004).

A young boy, Mehmet, with the hereditary and fatal disease of thalassemia, needed cells from a sibling without the disease in order to survive. To provide him with a sibling with the genes he needed, the doctors had to screen his mother’s eggs. However, the screening of human eggs is in violation of Norwegian legislation.

Two medical professors took opposing viewpoints in this case. One professor claimed that we needed to change legislation so that Mehmet could receive the best possible treatment, because this could save his life. The other professor claimed that this kind of treatment was experimental, uncertain and unethical. The debate continued for weeks and months, involving a great many participants, and with the two professors at the centre.

In May 2004 the professor who believed that we needed to change the law “outed” the other professor, and said that he believed that this professor was a Christian. The “outed” professor was offended, and claimed that for him “… it is my objective as a professor to try to be neutral, especially when dealing with my patients and colleagues. As a professor, I consider it unacceptable to ask people about their religious beliefs, political convictions or other private views. A philosophy of life is something people have an absolute right to keep within their private sphere.” The other professor asserted, “… I have presented this viewpoint on grounds of pure principle. It is my opinion that in the field of research and development, in particular, which has a profound influence on our values and our philosophy of life, everybody should be obligated to be open about his or her philosophy of life. It is much too widespread a trend for so-called professionals to give the impression that they are only professionals. Such a thing does not exist.”

These two different positions can serve as illustrations of how the topic of the relationship between the therapist’s personal life and her/his clinical practice is viewed in the field of family therapy. When I asked MRI brief therapist Richard Fisch how he viewed the topic of my research project, he replied in a written communication that this issue is not considered at all at MRI, and that he does not think a therapist can be more effective by examining his culture and family of origin. Lieberman quotes another North American family therapist, Murray Bowen, whose statement can illustrate the opposite view:

“The family therapist usually has the same problems in his own family that are present in the families he sees professionally and that he has a responsibility to define himself in his own family if he is to function adequately in his professional work” (Lieberman, 1987, p. 205 citing Bowen, 1978).

I have formulated a research question that lies between these two positions. With my project I want to enter into this landscape and explore how new meanings can emerge from my research question, which is found at the interface between these two positions.