Family Sculpting | The Retreat at Sheppard Pratt

Family Sculpting

September 4, 2010 —

Family Sculpting

written by Holly Slapinski, ACSW, LCSW-C and Janet Leibowitz MS, LCSW-C, Family Therapists at the Retreat

We live our lives as reflected in the mirror of others, as they live their lives as reflected by us. The most significant others for all of us are our families- those into which we are born, and those we create as we move through adulthood. We learn to define ourselves, others, even the very essence of reality on the basis of what we have learned from those closest to us. When these definitions and/or interpretations of reality aren’t working for us , family therapy may help us to develop new ones which work more effectively and to help us to be more balanced, empowered, and grounded.

Developed by Duhl, Duhl and Kantor in 1973, family sculpting is a technique used in family therapy where family members are asked in the therapy session to physically recreate the family into positions which symbolize how they relate to one another. This sculpting process not only allows family members to perceive and test out how past events and attitudes may affect the present, but also suggests new meanings and a new picture of family relations which could not be produced by using only verbal cues. Use of the term “sculpting” is founded upon its use as a kind of therapeutic art whereby each family member may arrange the other members into a sculpture which physically symbolizes their interpersonal relations. The “sculpture” involves representing family relationship dynamics by placing the members together in terms of posture, spatial relations, and behaviors which represent action and feeling. Individual family members may choose to represent themselves in the family sculpture, or may choose someone else to play their part. Their choice mainly depends upon if they feel emotionally prepared to play themselves, or perhaps not if they feel this might be too overwhelming. It can also be an especially helpful tool when working with children and adolescents, who may have neither the vocabulary nor the ability to fully express their understanding of the family dynamics.

Family sculpting has been found to provide both sound diagnostic information as well as the ability to design and implement useful therapeutic interventions in the future. It usually provides information on family relationships that might not otherwise be perceived, and therefore remains an invaluable part of the family therapist’s “toolbox.”

Visit our Family Therapy section of the site to find out more about our service offering and meet out Family Therapists.