Abstract

NARVAZ, Martha G. Multi-family groups: history and concepts. Contextos Clínic [online]. 2010, vol.3, n.1, pp. 1-9. ISSN 1983-3482.

This paper, which has been produced from the experience that we have developed since 1995 with multi-family groups, intends to highlight the multifamily therapy in the field of psychotherapy, group therapy and family therapy. Family therapists have been faced with several families who live in contexts of extreme vulnerability. These families are marked by intense suffering and helplessness engendered more by socio-cultural issues than by psychiatric "deviations". This fact has made rethink the psychotherapy practice, based on the tradition of individualistic psi practices with the necessity of recovering the historical and social dimension of subjectivity production and psychological distress, to rescue the collective strength, both in the disease production and in the invention of health. Believing in healthy resources of families and communities, the redemption of subjectivity and citizenship of these suffering individuals as protagonists of their stories can be through the sharing of their pains and hopes. Thus, the aim is to present the creative and "subversive" alternative of multi-family groups - subversive of some ideological postures that operate in favor of the dichotomy between public and private, alleging that mental sufering, ofen perceived as a private mat er, is actually produced in collective, therefore, social and political, rather than intrapsychic or familiar. Initially, we describe the emergence of group therapy in its historical, theoretical and epistemiological aspects, as well as the incorporation of multifamily and networks paradigm in the family therapy field. Some concepts about group therapy and multifamily group therapy, as well as some advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are presented

Keywords : multifamily groups; group therapy; psychotherapy.

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