Virginia Satir (1916-1988) was one of the major pioneers in family therapy and a teacher. She taught concepts that pulled people out of the dysfunction of their families into a higher consciousness of thinking and acting. She changed how the mental health field looked at people with problems as “pathology,” into seeing people as a product of their family conditioning which could be changed.
Rather than seeing a client’s issue as a problem, she believed that the problem was the result of how a client coped with a particular issue from the past or present. Her book, Conjoint Family Therapy, was based on the courses she delivered at the Mental Research Institute. After the book was published, Satir gained recognition for her theories from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the Academy of Certified Social Workers. She was in demand throughout the world.
Satir also developed the Satir Change Process Model, which was a method of change that she developed from her own clinical trials. Satir developed this model that is now widely used to understand the effects of change within the corporate world. Satir devoted much of her career to helping people find the necessary mental health resources for their needs. She created organizations to bring people with similar issues together, including Beautiful People and the Avanta Network.
Virginia traveled the world over with her teachings of how to become a fully functioning human being centered in love. She attracted a following of therapists, business people, leaders and regular folks who then applied her ideas through their own work and life.
