SCULPTING PRESENT AND FUTURE - A SYSTEMIC INTERVENTION MODEL APPLIED TO PSYCHOSOMATIC FAMILIES

We present a therapeutic intervention model for use with psychosomatic families. This method, the result of our extensive research on variou s psychosomatic disorders, uses family sculptures of the ''present'' a nd ''future'': each family member is requested to represent the family as it now ''is,'' and how it ''will be'' in the future. We discuss th e theoretical reasons for our choice of this method: (a) the opportuni ty to use a therapeutic language that is similar to the nonverbal lang uage of the psychosomatic symptom, and (b) the usefulness of reinserti ng temporal dimensions into family systems that seem to have lost thei r evolutionary potential and to be in a sort of ''time lock.'' Two cli nical cases are discussed (a child with chronic asthma and an anorexic adolescent), the use of sculptures in both cases revealed the underly ing problems and made positive therapeutic interventions possible. Fin ally, we point out how the use of sculpture as a therapeutic technique enables therapists to deal with multiple systemic levels.