The Use of Structural Family Therapy in the Treatment of Intractable Asthma
RONALD LIEBMAN M.D.1,
SALVADOR MINUCHIN M.D.2, , and
LESTER BAKER M.D.3
1 Associate Director of Training, Division of Child Psychiatry, Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, 1700 Bainbridge St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146 and The Assistant Professor of Child Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicihe
2 Director, Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, 1700 Bainbridge St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146 and Professor of Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
3 Director, Clinical Research Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The authors identify characteristics of family organization and functioning associated with psychosomatic illness in children—specifically chronic, severe, relapsing asthma—and report on a successful therapeutic approach designed to change these family characteristics. Weekly outpatient family therapy sessions focused on alleviating asthmatic symptoms, identifying and changing family patterns that exacerbate symptoms, and intervening to change the family system to prevent a recurrence of the symptoms.
