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Towards an Understanding of the Within-System Therapeutic Alliance with High-Conflict Divorced Parents: A Change Process Research

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the initial therapeutic alliance in family therapy with high-conflict divorced parents and identify facilitating elements of change. We sampled 16 family therapy cases (32 parents) from a public healthcare hospital in Spain. Based on the System for Observing Family Therapy Alliances (SOFTA-o) ratings, we divided the total number of cases into two groups, depending on the presence or absence of parents’ positive indicators in the Shared Sense of Purpose dimension (i.e., productive within-family collaboration or within-system alliance). We quantitatively described and compared the initial therapeutic alliance of the two groups. To deeper explore the within-system alliance process of change, we completed the discovery-oriented phase of the Task Analysis methodology. The main differences between groups were found in the Safety dimension, which was higher in the group of cases with indicators of within-system alliance. More detailed differences were also found. The Task Analysis suggested a model of the within-system alliance process of change grounded in three main categories -or stages- that occurred sequentially (1. Narratives of conflict, 2. Narratives of joint responsibility, and 3. Narratives of opportunity) and a category that appeared in different moments across the task resolution (0. Contextualization). Five sub-categories emerged in a recursive movement within categories 1 and 2. Implications and recommendations for practice are described along with limitations and suggestions to continue this line of research.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the assistance of Dr. Myrna L. Friedlander and Dr. Valentín Escudero in the design of this study.

Funding

This work was supported by Fons Social Europeu and Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca of the Departament d’Economia i Coneixement of the Generalitat de Catalunya through a predoctoral fellowship grant to Cristina Günther-Bel [FI-DGR: 2013 FI_B 00104, 2014 FI_B1 00199, 2015 FI_B2 00111].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. FPCEE Blanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain

    Cristina Günther-Bel & Anna Vilaregut

  2. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Juan Luis Linares

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  1. Cristina Günther-Bel
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  2. Anna Vilaregut
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Correspondence to Cristina Günther-Bel.

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Günther-Bel, C., Vilaregut, A. & Linares, J.L. Towards an Understanding of the Within-System Therapeutic Alliance with High-Conflict Divorced Parents: A Change Process Research. Contemp Fam Ther 43, 329–342 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-021-09593-7

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