Systems-Centered Therapy for Groups

by Yvonne M. Agazarian

Systems-Centered Therapy (SCT) synthesizes an awareness of the defensive role of anxiety, and depression - with an analysis of the phases of group development. This volume introduces the theory of living human systems and maps out its operationalization in a structured treatment model. This book will be of interest to both practitioners and trainees in group and individual psychotherapy.

Genres: Psychology

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 1997

About the author

Yvonne M. Agazarian was the principal architect of systems-centered therapy, based on a theory of Living Human Systems that she also developed.

Reviews

[Presley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible theory. Four stars just because of the editing; it takes work to extract the new ideas from each chapter. But it's a very comprehensive theory of psychology with what sounds like a very powerful and unique technique, functional subgrouping. This book says more about how the therapy works at each stage, both in terms of what the therapist does and in terms of what the group members experience and discover, while Systems-Centered Training focuses more on the theory of nested systems and roles. Knowing a bit from Systems-Centered Training helped me follow the references in this book to the various levels of a system, but there's also a glossary in this one.

[Scott Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a quick read (I started in January and finished the beginning of March). My work with SAVI (System Analysis of Verbal Interaction), which was developed by Agazarian and Anita Simon, brought me to this book. Agazarian's focus here is on group development as a way of understanding the defensive self, how to modify defenses that are ever-present within the self during group interaction, and how to locate the spontaneous self that operates in the here-and-now and not in the interpreted past or the fantasy of the future. Very intensive, and very personal. While insightful from an organizational development perspective, this work is geared toward therapeutic work with individuals in a group setting.