Watch Jean McLendon, one of the foremost practitioners of Virginia Satir’s approach to family therapy, in this touching live session with Janice, a single mother, and her eleven-year-old son, John. Learn the essence of the Satir method as McLendon elegantly demonstrates what she calls “a model for the brave and courageous and the big-hearted souls.”
“I just want to stop having so much anger inside and just stop being mean to other people,” declares John at the beginning of the session. Unlike many children who get dragged to therapy against their will by their parents, John stepped up to the plate to ask his mother if he could talk to a counselor about his anger. In this heart-warming session, McLendon gently helps John accept the sadness underneath his anger, as she uncovers a series of significant losses John has had to face so early in his young life. With deep care and reverence, McLendon helps both John and his mother to embrace the vulnerable parts of themselves with tenderness and love.
Viewers will have the opportunity to watch McLendon skillfully demonstrate key aspects of the Satir approach, such as creating safety, making contact, and validating feelings and desires. She also shows how the family mapping technique can be used as a visual tool to help deepen the work. An added bonus is an engaging discussion after the session that sheds further light on the Satir approach to family therapy.
This video is part of the 10-video series, Family Therapy with the Experts. Other self-study videos in this series include:
- Adlerian Family Therapy
- Bowenian Family Therapy
- Empowerment Family Therapy
- Integrative Family Therapy
- Narrative Family Therapy
- Object-Relations Family Therapy
- Satir Family Therapy
- Solution-Oriented Family Therapy
- Structural Family Therapy
- Value-Sensitive Therapy
