Control Mastery Theory and family therapy.

Abstract

Control Mastery is a psychodynamically based and empirically supported theory that has, to date, mostly been used in conducting psychotherapy with individuals and couples. This article describes the principal constructs of the theory and the rationale and procedures for its application to working with children and adolescents in family therapy. Control Mastery focuses on the development of growth-inhibiting pathogenic beliefs, which are based on traumatic interactions with early caregivers and subsequently generalized to the world beyond the family and into adulthood. The individual and family are assumed to be highly motivated to overcome these troubling beliefs in therapy and work to do so primarily through an unconsciously planned process of testing them with the therapist and with each other. Therapist interventions were based on a case-specific Plan Formulation Method. Altruistic motives and efforts to adapt to the family environment are emphasized, lending to a humanistic, nonpathologizing, and collaborative approach to treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).