Family functioning: theoretical and clinical interest of explanatory models

Abstract

The topic of family functioning is becoming more and more important in our clinical practice and in our clinical psychology teaching at the university. Indeed, some of the university teachings that we provide as part of the preparation for the master's degree in clinical psychology aim to address the relationship between the family, changes in society and their impact on the manifestations of psychological disorders and dysfunctions in the family. Thus, the family can be a risk factor for the development of psychological disorders, but it can also be a protective factor against this risk. In this contribution, we propose to present some explanatory models of family functioning, and to show, in the light of clinical situations from our practice, how these models are relevant to help the clinician in his work of diagnosis, therapy, but also prevention of risk situations