Explain the importance of defining a problem as a family problem when working with families.

Answers may vary. Throughout the family session, emphasize that every member's perspective is important; that family members can do much to support the change efforts of other family members; that all members will need to make adjustments to alleviate the family's stress; and that the family can do much to increase the quality of relationships and the support that each member receives from others. Despite your efforts to define problems as belonging to the family, you will often encounter a persistent tendency of some members to blame others. In these situations, your tasks are to do the following:
Monitor your own performance to ensure that you do not collude with family members in labeling others as a problem, thus holding them responsible for the family's difficulties.
Model the circular orientation to causality of behavior and emphasize that family members reciprocally influence one another in ways that perpetuate patterns of interaction.
In the discussion of wants and needs, you should take care to avoid a potential perception that you support one person's position over that of other family members. When one person is perceived as the source of the family's difficulties, your task is to challenge this linear thinking by asking others about their role in creating and maintaining the problem.