Multigenerational systems: Basic assumptions

Abstract

The great versatility and practicality of multigenerational system concepts are demonstrated by their increased use in therapy by marriage and family therapists, by the development of theory, by the practicality of gathering multigenerational data through methods such as geno-grams and event charting, and by developing intervention strategies that include more than two generations. This information and treatment is coming from family theorists, researchers, and therapists who profess divergent theoretical approaches. These professionals who view family therapy from the extended family system perspective seem to be guided by common assumptions that are not clearly identified as such by the authors. This paper proposes eight basic assumptions that seem to underly the practice of multigenerational family therapy, theory development, assessment, and research by a theoretically divergent group of family-oriented scholars and practitioners.