Introduction to SCT

People get acquainted with systems-centered work either by doing – attending a workshop – or by reading. If you like to read first, here are some suggestions for getting started with systems-centered theory and its applications.

• Agazarian, Y.M (1992). Systems-centered group psychotherapy: How to develop a working group.

  Paper written for Friends Hospital Series on The Systems-centered Approach to Group-as-a-whole Therapy. Good Enough Press.

  A brief systems-centered 'how to' for developing a group with working energy focused on its goals. Introduces systems-centered thinking about boundaries, goals and functional sub-grouping as a way of integrating differences.

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• Agazarian, Y.M. & Gantt, S.P. (2000). Autobiography of a theory, London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  The story of how Yvonne M Agazarian developed her Theory of Living Human Systems and its associated methods and techniques. Good place to start if you're interested in theory.

• Agazarian, Y.M. (2001). A systems-centered approach to inpatient group psychotherapy. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  This short book gives an actual transcript of a group meeting for the first time. The group dialogue is interspersed with Yvonne Agazarian describing her interventions and linking them to the theory on which they are based. Excellent introduction for clinicians.

• Gantt, S.P. & Agazarian, Y.M. (2004). Systems-centered emotional intelligence: Beyond individual systems to organizational systems. Organizational Analysis, 12 (2), 147-169.

  The systems-centered view of emotional intelligence and organizational learning. Good summary of the Theory of Living Human Systems and some of its applications in organizations.

  This article is available with permission of the publisher.

• Agazarian, Y.M. & Gantt, S.P. (2005). The systems perspective. In S. Wheelan (Ed.), Handbook of group research and practice.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  This brief article gives a concise introduction to the theory and basic SCT methods.