Daniela Tahirova, Milena Nenkova, Natalia Nikolova, Teodora

Gerginova

The Bernhard Achterberg Institute of Psychodrama, Individual and Group

Psychotherapy (IPIGP)Sofia, Bulgaria

Relationship’s Dynamics in Families with Children

with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.Therapeutic ideas, Observations,

Interventions 

Exploring the relationship dynamics

Therapist Couple

Child with a problem

Our thoughts and challenges in the beginning…

Ivan

Family 1 Anna2y

older

Intention: to improve their relationship and explore deeper the cycles of conflicts that arise between themTherapy directions: clarification of the roles in the family - the mother, the father, the grandmother, the child. Models of behavior that work, and models that do not work.

Rosi72

Petar69

Vladi

42

Oleg40

Maria

60

Todor62

Marti12

Family 2

Ivelin6

Adopted 2,5 y

Ilia40

Malina45

Dani

62

Natalia

57

Vasil64

Kostadin

62

Eva60

Svetla

39

Intention: to improve their parenting together and the communication between them within the couple and with the child

Therapy directions: to find more adequate view points on punishments, to rediscover support within the couple

Family 3Ivan56

Sofia

Petia

53

Marga40

Galia30

Claudia

54

Serhio56

Serhio34

Marko5

Mia

Emilia2

Antonio4

Intention: to decrease conflicts and communicate more and easily Therapy directions: both partners to learn to name and express their emotions in an adequate way (both positive and negative) between them and in front of the kids; to identify differences and values in both cultures.

Columbia

QuestionsHow does the couple’s therapy affect the

child with symptoms and how the meetings between the child and the therapeutic team affect the therapeutic hypotheses?

Is the inclusion of the extended family in the child care an obstacle or a resource?

Is it a positive or a negative for the couple to stay together in the name of being able to bring up a child with autistic spectrum disorder?

An idea applied to practice

А member of our team to take care of the child and if possible, this to happen in the same place where we do the therapy session (in case that this does not disturb the process).

Observations

The child as an active participant in the therapeutic space

Child’s behavior visibly changes when there is a change in the communication between the parents.

The awareness of the partners that the patterns in their relationship affect on the behavior of the child increases their involvement in the therapeutic process.

Features and SimilaritiesIn the therapy process we did not have any families in

which the child is brought up by a single parent.

Such people came to us, who have kept their family couple, no matter what is the psychological climate in it.

 The relationships in partner couples are in crisis, because:

partners have different ways of accepting the diagnosis of the child and they also have different coping strategies;

the way they support (or not support ) each other; the physical and emotional stress that the mother and

the father experience.

Features and Similarities

No space, time and resources left for the needs of the partners.

Partners remain together as a couple, but actually one of the members is absent - physically and emotionally.

In all the families we observed paradoxes in the relationship between the partners.

ConclusionsThe therapy sessions provide space in which

partners can actively communicate.

Working with an emphasize on the couple’s relationship is leading to improvement of the climate in the family system as a whole; it is giving the family new perspectives.

When there are no resources in the larger system or in the child itself, we offer to find deeper resources in the couple.

In families with diffuse borders, the willingness from the extended family to support and participate in child care can be an obstacle as it negatively affects the relationship within the couple and produces more tension.

Our thoughts and reflections after…

To be continued…

Thank you for your time and attention!

Daniela Tahirova, Milena Nenkova, Natalia Nikolova, Teodora Gerginova

The Bernhard Achterberg Institute of Psychodrama, Individual and Group

Psychotherapy (IPIGP)

Istanbul, Turkey25.10.2013