, PYC4808
ASSIGNMENT 3 (EXAM
PORTFOLIO) 2026
DUE 30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Introduction
This assignment explores three interconnected dimensions of systemic family therapy practice,
namely ecosystemic conceptualisation, structural family therapy, and ethical considerations. The
first section examines how presenting problems, identified patients, relational dynamics, and
first-order change can be understood through an ecosystemic lens that locates difficulty within
transactions between individuals, families, and wider social systems rather than within a single
person (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The second section turns to structural family therapy, outlining the
concepts of family structure, subsystems, and alliances and coalitions, and demonstrating how
symptoms may be understood as expressions of dysfunctional boundaries, hierarchies, and
cross-generational alignments (Minuchin, 1974). The third section considers ethical practice across
two levels, distinguishing first-order ethical considerations grounded in professional codes and
principles from second-order ethical considerations that foreground reflexivity, power, culture, and
the therapist's embeddedness within the therapeutic system (Corey, Corey and Callanan, 2019;
Anderson and Goolishian, 1992). Throughout, the discussion draws on foundational and
contemporary systemic literature to illustrate how theory informs ethical and effective practice
with families. Together, these three areas provide a coherent framework for assessing and
intervening in family difficulties while remaining attentive to the wider ecological and ethical
contexts in which such work takes place.
ASSIGNMENT 3 (EXAM
PORTFOLIO) 2026
DUE 30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Introduction
This assignment explores three interconnected dimensions of systemic family therapy practice,
namely ecosystemic conceptualisation, structural family therapy, and ethical considerations. The
first section examines how presenting problems, identified patients, relational dynamics, and
first-order change can be understood through an ecosystemic lens that locates difficulty within
transactions between individuals, families, and wider social systems rather than within a single
person (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The second section turns to structural family therapy, outlining the
concepts of family structure, subsystems, and alliances and coalitions, and demonstrating how
symptoms may be understood as expressions of dysfunctional boundaries, hierarchies, and
cross-generational alignments (Minuchin, 1974). The third section considers ethical practice across
two levels, distinguishing first-order ethical considerations grounded in professional codes and
principles from second-order ethical considerations that foreground reflexivity, power, culture, and
the therapist's embeddedness within the therapeutic system (Corey, Corey and Callanan, 2019;
Anderson and Goolishian, 1992). Throughout, the discussion draws on foundational and
contemporary systemic literature to illustrate how theory informs ethical and effective practice
with families. Together, these three areas provide a coherent framework for assessing and
intervening in family difficulties while remaining attentive to the wider ecological and ethical
contexts in which such work takes place.
