Relational Cultural Theory: Connections and Conversations in Healing

Michelle WilsonNorth Dakota State University

Counselor Education

Focus of Relational Cultural Theory (RCT)

• Humans grow through and toward connection throughout the lifespan and culture has a huge impact on that relationship

• Neurologically wired for connection• Majority of literature is geared towards people

without developmental disorders (Autism, Asperger's)

Focus of RCT

• Disconnection can occur at a social, cultural and systemic level– Relationships that lack

authenticity and mutuality can also facilitate disconnection

Theoretical Underpinnings• Developmental in that connections are an on-going, circular, and paramount part of

our development process.

• Feminist and Multiculturally informed in that disconnections can occur at a personal

or societal level, both playing an important role in how people begin to understand

relationships and connections

• Calls on neurological research to state unequivocally that we are very literally, hard

wired for connections. (Banks, 2011)

• Humanistic in that great attention is paid to cultivating meaning through the course

of development

• Constructivist in that there is no “reality” but rather experiences perceived by other

people

Theoretical UnderpinningsDevelopmental

Feminist

NeurologicalHumanistic

Constructivist

RCT

Theoretical Development

• Roots of RCT emerged at the time of Gilligan, Chodorow, as well as Miller

and her colleagues (Stiver, Surrey,) began to ask if the way women’s

development and identity was accurate

• Gilligan, came about as a response to Kohlberg’s theory of Moral

Development. She maintained the theory presented women as deficient

• Chodorow reexamined object relations theory to note that women and

girls had profoundly different relational expectations with mothers than

boys and men. Thus leading to differences in identity and

developmental expectations.

Theoretical Development

• Towards a New Psychology of Women (1976)

written by Jean Baker Miller

• Suggested that women develop

through relationships

• Stated that the model of self-

sufficiency did not match the

strengths or experiences of women

Major Focus

• “This goes beyond saying that women value relationships;

we are suggesting that the deepest sense of one’s being is

continuously formed in connection with others and is

inextricably tied to relational movement. The primary

feature, rather than structure marked by separateness and

autonomy is increasing empathy responsiveness in the

context of interpersonal mutuality.” (Jordan, 1997, p.15)

Key Concepts• People grow through

and toward relationship throughout lifespan

• Movement toward mutuality rather than movement toward separation characterizes mature functioning

• Authenticity is necessary for real engagement and full participation in growth fostering relationships.

• In growth fostering relationships, all people contribute—development is not a one way street.

Key Terms

Being open to being affected by another

person and having an effect on them

Mutuality

Bringing ones real experience into a

relationship—with an awareness of its impact on

others

Authenticity

•Zest•Clarity•Sense of Worth•Desire for more

Relationships•Productivity

Growth Fostering

Relationship

Key ConceptsSocial Pain Overlap Theory (SPOT Theory)

• Grounded in the work of Eisenger and Leiberman, Banks (2011) puts it

in the context of RCT

• Indicates that the brain does not differentiate between social and

physical pain

People are hardwired to connect to others

• When exclusion occurs, the brain responds to the stress in

the same way it responds to physical pain

• Autonomic nervous system responses can result in anxiety,

vigilance, sleeplessness over time

Key Terms

• Disconnections have

occurred for someone

in a relationship

where mutuality and

mutual do not occur

– Looks like

disappointment,

isolation, and

sometimes danger

Key Terms

• Chronic Disconnection takes place when

there are repeated disconnections in the

context of relationship.

– Connected to power within the relationship

– Leads to strategies to twist and fit into a

disconnected relationship

Key Terms

• Strategies of

Disconnection are

methods used to

protect relationships

but avoid authenticity.

• Central Relational Paradox

occurs when repeated

disconnection results in a

habit of keeping parts of

themselves out of

relationships in order to avoid

further disconnection and

salvage any remnant of

relationship that does exist.

Key Terms

Disconnection

Shame

Strategies of Disconnection

Central Relational Paradox

• The cycle starts with

disconnection and

facilitates further

disconnection

Therapeutic Process

• “The quality of responsive presence on the

part of the therapist is one of the defining

features of RCT therapy. RCT therapy is

largely based on a change in attitude and

understanding rather than set of techniques.”

(Jordan, 2010, p.5)

Therapeutic Process• Radical Respect

A deep appreciation based on empathy for the other person's current

functioning and for the context within which her or his suffering arose;

an equally deep appreciation for her or his coping methods, survival

strategies, and the inner wisdom that sought to keep her or him alive.

• Precedes a counseling relationship,, it is not earned through trust.

It is brought by the counselor.

• Serves as the foundation for the counseling relationship

Therapeutic Process

• Radical Respect changes the framework of

how a counselor understands a clients

behavior

– Defensiveness, lateness, can be viewed as

mechanisms of protection that have served the

client well

Therapeutic Process

• Radical Respect also serves to facilitate self empathy, the

initial task for many RCT practitioners

– Shame management

– Forgiveness of Self

• Enhancing self empathy allows people to fully participate

in relationships, thus bring them closer to mutuality and

vulnerability

Therapeutic Process

• Relational Images are

inner pictures of a

person’s experiences

in relationships

– Understanding

relational images is an

essential task in RCT

Therapeutic Process• Discrepant Relational Images

Relational images that contradict the

negative dominant and fixed images

that keep people locked in

disconnection; expansion of these

images leads to changes in the

dominant relational expectation.

• The counselor seeks to expand those

images leading to relational

resilience even in the face of adverse

conditions.

Relational Images

Discrepant Relational

Images

Relational Resilience

Therapeutic Process

• RCT does not dispute the existence

of pathology

• Avoids placing too much power in

labels

• Opts to place experience in a larger

context of development, social,

cultural realities.

• Leaves room for pharmaceutical

support in order to manage systems

Therapeutic Process• Corrective Relational Response

– Occurs as the result of counselor

and client coming to an impasse,

or conflict

– Counselor responds with

authenticity

– Thus facilitating a strengthened

relationship and potentially

serving to cultivate further

mutuality

Therapeutic process

Radical Respect

Mutuality

Exploring Relational Images

Authenticity

Relational Resilience

Therapeutic Process

Boundaries look differently in RCT than other counseling theories

– Deviates from the model of separation

– Lawler(2004) maintains boundaries exist to hold the relationship as

opposed to limit it.

– Part of establishing boundaries is to move from power over to power with

– Create a safe space for mutuality to exist, while still communicating

ethical and safety expectations

Therapeutic Process• Surrey (1991) cites 3 necessary questions to evaluate

boundaries

– What is the potential impact of the practice on the client, the

therapist, and the relationship?

– Will the Behavior move the relationship toward expanded

connection, either by increasing the likelihood of empathetic joining

or by encouraging the client to embrace a challenge?

– How does the practice affect the therapists ability to be present to,

and responsive in, relationship?

Therapeutic Process

• RCT does not deny the existence of Power

Differential

– Must be acknowledged in order to facilitate

relational movement towards mutuality

– Mencher (1997) client may be the expert on the

realities of their problems and thereby the solutions

Therapeutic Process

• Counselors who hold a place in a minority

group will sometimes need to navigate

community and professional obligation

• Unilateral expectation that counselors still

hold ethical obligations to work within

ethical guidelines

• Mencher (1997) maintains within Lesbian

community it is a matter of acknowledging

a dual contact relationship and still staying

within professional guidelines

Therapeutic Process• RCT asks its counselors to be highly aware of their own

social, cultural, and developmental ideas

– Relational Images

• Familiarity with a particular issue still dictates

awareness in the context of the connection

• What will my challenges in this relationship?

• Who am I and what will I become through this experience

• How will I grow and change?

Therapeutic Process

• Termination is not advocated in RCT

– Crucial to maintain that connection

– Case studies indicate this translates into a “Stop and

Go” process

– Matches RCT’s goals of on-going development/growth

– Honors the sanctity of relationship between

counselor and client as a space of healing

Limitations

• Unlikely a stand alone theory

– Would likely need to be combined with other techniques (SFBT, Narrative, Gestalt, DBT)

• Difficult to practice

– Calls for Counselors to be highly attentive, aware, and humble

– Largely a theory of presence rather than techniques

• Time Constraints

– Limited literature on implementation of RCT in a brief context

• Gender Issues

– Seems possible that there will be other levels of complexity to attend to when counselor and client identify as

different genders

– Few case studies exist to demonstrate inter-gender work

• Calls for very careful supervision, due to lack of manualiztion

– Would be difficult to implement without collective practice of RCT

Applications

Substance Abuse

•Covingtion•Surrey

Trauma

•Banks•Jordan

Eating Disorders

•Tantillo•Saftner

Middle School Counseling

• Tucker• Smith-Adock

&Trepal

Career

• Fletchner• Mutolsky

Transgender Identity

• Patton & Reicherzer

Short Term RCT• Jordan (2010) recommends beginning brief RCT with psychoeduction

on the neurobiology of connection

– Counselors can concentrate on 2 or 3 important relationships

– This leads to a shift in the stiffness of these patterns

– Can also alleviate some of the pervasiveness of the difficult relational patterns

• Used with success in College Counseling Centers (Comstock, 2004)

• Two year study by Ontario Women’s Health Council found 6 months of

RCT counseling improved significantly on all outcome measures and

were sustained for 6 months (Jordan, 2010)

References• Baker Miller, J. (1976). Towards a new psychology of women. Boston,

MA: Beacon Press.

• Banks, A. (2011).Developing the Capacity to Connect. Journal Of

Religion & Science, 46(1), 168-182.

• Comstock, D. (2004). Reflections of life, loss, and resilience. In M.

Walker & W. Rosen (Eds.), How Connection Heal: Stories from Relational

Cultural Therapy (pp. 83-102). New York:

• Glossary of relational-cultural theory--key terms. (2012). Retrieved from

http://www.jbmti.org/Our-Work/ glossary-relational-cultural-therapy

References • Jordan, J. V. (2010) Relational Cultural Therapy. Washington, DC:

American Psychological Association.

• Lawler, A. (2004) Caring but fallible: A story of repairing

disconnection. In M. Walker & W. Rosen (Eds.), How Connection

Heal: Stories from Relational Cultural Therapy (pp. 66-82). New York:

• Mencher, J. (1997). The conundrum of mutuality: A lesbian

dialouge. In J. Jordan (Ed.), Women's Growth In Diversity: More

Writings from the Stone Center (pp. 107-136). New York:

Guliford.

References

• Surrey, J. (1991)What do you mean mutuality in therapy? Work in

Progress, no. 49. Stone Center Working Paper Series