Videotape reviews -- Virginia Satir: The Use of Self in Therapy

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Jan 1995 by Duhl, Bunny S

For anyone who has not seen Virginia Satir at work, The Use of Self in Therapy is a lovely introductory tape. Dr. Dewitt Baldwin, Jr., Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at University of Nevada Medical School, as well as Satir's colleague and friend, provides commentary on the clips shown, explaining and expanding how Satir used the person of the therapist in her therapy. His perspective is also influenced by the work of his wife, Michele Baldwin, who studied with and worked closely with Satir, analyzing her interviewing process and theories, and collaborated with her on two books, one entitled The Use of the Self in Therapy.

While watching family therapy tapes, one often identifies with the therapist, almost with a we/they attitude. Such an attitude seems to me to be impossible while watching Satir. Her knowledge of people is so fine-tuned, her knowledge of the dynamics that operate deeply in all of us is so laser sharp, that we find ourselves identifying not only with her but also with the clients with whom she works. She touches them deeply, asking questions and having them say the previously unsayable to each other in a now safe way. It is dramatic work and at the same time simple, taking big leaps through many minute steps. Such work takes a lot of what many might call "micronoticing," as well as risk and daring. Most importantly, her work is based on her precept that the therapist must believe in and be congruent with what he/she does and that one's use of self is the essential element the therapist has to offer clients.

Satir is famous for her use of self. She is so fully at home inside herself, she so fully inhabits that self, that Satir the person cannot be disconnected from Satir the therapist. Most therapists, including couple and family therapists, are taught to do "sit down" therapy, where you use your brains and maybe occasionally have family members switch seats.

Satir is hardly still for a minute. Her activity is purposeful and natural as she engages family members with one another and herself with them. Touch is not an unnatural element in her therapy. Totally natural, it is nevertheless quite conscious, boundaried, and purposeful, as well as checked out with clients. She uses her body in how she sits, her facial expressions, and voice tone; she listens carefully to each word and nuance of clients' sentences, searching with them to understand their meanings, then carrying them forward from there to someplace new. She uses her energy and eyes, moving in close to people to peer closely into their eyes, to have them do that with each other. She is fully cognizant of the totality of the person, how tall or short one is, and how one moves in space, and how that influences what happens between people. Satir speaks to the core of each individual, and as she elicits each one's yearnings, she helps them acknowledge and feel comfortable with these vulnerable areas with other family members. She facilitates people being really with each other.

However, under the seemingly effortless and fluid way in which she works, there is a deep structure, articulated on this tape by both Satir and Baldwin. Baldwin's commentary introduces viewers to the complex understructure of Satir's work. He touches on Satir's basic belief system, which she called a Human Process Validation Model. Satir believes that each individual has the capacity for growth and that the role of the therapist is to touch that capacity and to further that growth; that therapy is a natural unfolding process, a growth process, which involves reframing as a way of speaking to strengths, thus validating each person and enhancing each person's self-esteem. She believes that therapists model for clients how to be, how to try new words and actions, and that congruence in the therapist is paramount in that modeling.

Baldwin does not stick only to how Satir uses herself but weaves back and forth, also highlighting the rationale, constructs, and theory behind certain ways of working. While Baldwin points out a great deal that the new viewer might miss, Satir's work is so rich that it cannot be done full justice in this half-hour potpourri, and I felt that Baldwin almost tried to include too much. (The tape also ends somewhat abruptly.) And the contrast between Satir's warm fullness and Baldwin's formality is noticeable. However, overall, this tape is an excellent introduction to Satir's work and whets the appetite for more. It certainly exemplifies Satir's humor, warmth, brilliance, creativity, gentleness, directness, and effectiveness--all truly uses of herself.