Sustaining Engagement: A Change Event in Family Therapy

In response to the call for researchers to identify components of family treatment that are common across theoretical approaches (e.g., A. S. Gurman, 1988), a qualitative analysis was undertaken of an important change event in family treatment: sustaining engagement (SE). Using R. C. Bogdan and S. K. Biklen's (1992) modified analytic induction method, a sample was identified of successful SE events-that is, therapeutic episodes in which family members move from disengagement with each other to sustained engagement on a problem-solving task. Videotapes of 33 sessions were scrutinized to develop and refine the operational definitions of disengagement and sustained engagement. After two reviewers independently verified the selection of 8 SE events, a qualitative comparison was conducted of the interpersonal dynamics in the 4 successful versus the 4 unsuccessful events. The resulting conceptual model of the SE change process is described, followed by suggestions for continued research on this therapeutic event.