Systemic Psychology: What Does It Consist Of?

Systemic psychology studies the phenomena of relationship and communication in groups, analyzing the relationships and the components that emerge from them. This approach starts with individual people, who interrelate with each other in different collectives understood as systems.

In this way, each group/collective in which each person relates is a different system: family, professional, domestic…

In fact, this current starts from the context taking into account the different areas in which people move, as the way each individual relates to the environment around them determines their development and personal growth.

Therefore, systemic psychology can be applied to couples, work teams and families as well as to individuals.

Next, we’ll look at how this approach came about and what it consists of. That is, the principles by which it is governed.

Origin of systemic psychology

Systems psychology is a current based on Bertalanffy’s general systems theory, which began to develop in the second half of the 20th century.

In his theory, Bertalanffy highlighted the concept of interaction, stating that a system implies an interdependence between the parties or people involved in the relationship. It is noteworthy that the system concept is part of the General Systems Theory.

At the same time, the beginning of systemic therapy is associated with the anthropologist Gregory Bateson and his team from the Administration Hospital of Palo Alto . Bateson joined other researchers such as Jackson, Haley and Weakland to analyze the communication system of schizophrenic families.

From Bateson’s research, the double-binding theory emerged, which made its contribution to the foundations of systemic psychology. A double bind is a communicative dilemma arising from the contradiction between two or more messages, that is, contradictory messages are sent.

It is clear that the phenomenon of human communication is one of the objects of analysis in systemic therapy. It is worth noting that we owe part of the foundations of this current to Paul Watzlawick and his theory of human communication, which addresses issues linked to the pragmatics of communication, taking into account the effects that communication has on behavior.

Principles of systemic psychology

Next, we will present basic and relevant aspects of systemic psychology:

the system as a whole

For this current, the system is considered a whole, as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thus, systems psychology emphasizes the properties of the whole that result from the interaction of the different elements of the system. For this approach, what matters is the relationship that arises from the interaction of people.

The different systems (family, friends, partners, co-workers…) are related in a contextual framework, in which people’s roles and behaviors are determined by the tacit rules of this system and by the interaction between its members. Systemic analyzes and pays special attention to these roles and behaviors.

Multi-causal origin

Systems psychology starts from a circular and multi-causal perspective. Therefore, linear markers in which there is only a single cause cannot be established. This is because, on the contrary, there are several determining causal factors: each action and reaction continually changes the nature of the context.

In a family, for example, members react to the same fact in different ways, modifying the final situation, which is the combination of all the different reactions that can occur.

In this sense, Paul Watzlawick was a pioneer in distinguishing this circular causality of events to explain the possible repetitive patterns of interactions between people.

In short, the circular view of problems is marked by the way one individual’s behavior influences the actions of others, and how others influence the former’s behavior.

Communication is a key factor

As mentioned above, Watzlawick was one of the great exponents of systems psychology when he introduced his theory of communication, which is considered a key factor in the therapeutic process. For the systemic therapist, communication is an important point to work on and analyze.

Each system has rules that the systemic therapist must learn to intervene on them if they are not adequate. The way we communicate, according to this current, determines the maintenance or reduction of the problem to be treated.

To conclude, systemic psychology offers another perspective on difficulties and problems, in which the relationship above the individual prevails as the focus of intervention.

From different researches, several branches and schools emerged within systemic therapy, differing in small details. These are: MRI Interactional School, Structural and Strategic School, Milan Systemic School…