Transforming the Inner and Outer Family

Humanistic and Spiritual Approaches to Mind-Body Systems Therapy

This enlightening book integrates humanistic and transpersonal psychotherapy principles with family systems work. Transforming the Inner and Outer Family discusses a wide range of creative methodologies, such as the use of meditation, guided imagery, and energy centers in the body to bridge the inner and outer experiences of the individual and family members. Chapters explore the healing capacity of intense affect to unify significant others through the transformation of fear, anger, and grief to understanding, compassion, love, and forgiveness. The book is practical as well as theoretical, containing many case studies focusing on individual, couples, and family therapy. In addition, a special chapter is included on the use of family of origin sessions. Transcripts of actual cases show detailed methods of entering into the therapy system to promote change and demonstrate the operational definition of spirituality and its practical utilization in psychotherapy. Also included is a special candid interview between the author and Virginia Satir, mother of family therapy, nine months before she died, on her personal and professional life.

Transforming the Inner and Outer Family presents an integrative family systems model that emphasizes the coordination of existential, humanistic, and transpersonal healing psychologies. This model coordinates Virginia Satir’s later thinking with Roberto Assagioli’s model of psychosynthesis. Author Sheldon Kramer blends principles of psychosynthesis with family systems work and thoroughly explains the use of his new model, Mind-Body Systems Therapy,™ including:

• development of internal family configurations

• the spiritual dimension within the systemic context

• integrating the use of the body with meditation in healing practices

• methods of healing the inner nuclear and intra-generational family

• bridging the inner and outer familial world

• stages of inner and outer healing

• the use of self in therapy

  Transforming the Inner and Outer Family is on the cutting edge of current emerging interests in alternative medicine, especially in holistic principles of healing, with emphasis on the spiritual dimension as a major healing conduit for transformation. Readers will discover in this book a solid theoretical base that integrates traditional psychology, including psychodynamic/object relations theory, with less-mainstream forms of psychotherapy, and will learn effective strategies for helping individuals, couples, and families heal.