Guilt loops.
Overlooking the role of parental guilt in recurrent parent-child conflict may limit effective interventions in family therapy. This paper presents a conceptual model of the role of parental guilt in the maintenance of recurrent dysfunctional sequences of parent-child conflict. The cybernetic model of guilt loops provides a framework for understanding and intervening in recurrent escalating parent-child conflict which is characterized by ambiguous, inconsistent limit-setting and consequences. Interventions based on guilt loops address the interaction between parental guilt and dysfunctional behavior sequences and broaden the scope of possible interventions for the therapist. A clinical example illustrates the use of this model.
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
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Pickering
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007207:Individuation; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010553:Personality Development; D011340:Problem Solving; D012752:Shame