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Many individuals who request psychiatric services have in some way already accepted a diagnostic label given to them by their family group.1 In some instances, both the labeled individual and the family agree that the person sent or brought for treatment is "sick," "has the problem," or is "causing all the trouble." From a systems perspective, this labeling process can be viewed as an attempt by the family group to decrease family pain." Such a labeling process often helps the other family members feel better by explaining the problem, but it also represents a major stumbling block to the successful resolution of family dysfunction. If the family as a group is to improve its level of healthy functioning, this labeling process must be challenged. On the other hand, any attempt to relabel this problem as a family issue will be met with some resistance as the process of relabeling will take away the family's present defense structure against the pain. The purpose of this article is to describe a number of intervention methods which can be used by the family therapist to help overcome this resistance when attempting to redefine "the problem" as a "family issue."
WHAT NOT TO DO
Many family therapists have suggested that the first step in Conjoint Family Therapy is to explain to the family the therapist's orientation and rationale for seeing the total family group.1 This explanation approach is in reality a relabeling operation that we believe occurs too rapidly and sets the stage for a number of unnecessary family therapy complications. We believe that the "explanation" approach will usually: 1) result in an initial, unnecessary argument between the family therapist and the family group about who is to be involved in the therapy composition; 2) stimulate an unnecessary increase in the family's anxiety level, and; 3) mobilize the family's resistance against the family approach before the family therapist has been able to develop a beginning relationship with each member of the family group. As a result, we believe that the "explanation" approach usually results in a higher drop-out rate than is desirable or necessary. The following methods can be used to help the family therapist engage the family in the necessary relabeling operations without a high risk of "drop...