'Family Pain' in the Context of the Cultural-Historical Approach of L.S. Vygotsky

Background. The term “family pain” is used in family system psychotherapy to refer to the emotional state of members in a dysfunctional family. Despite the widespread use of this term in practical psychology, the structure of the phenomenon of “family pain” has not yet been described and introduced into clinical and family psychology. This study provides a scientific substantiation of the psychological construct “family pain” in the etiology and functioning of codependent behaviour based on the cultural-historical approach of L.S. Vygotsky. Objectives. The aim is to characterize the concept of experiencing “family pain” based on a cultural-historical approach, and also to analyse the characteristics of experiencing “family pain” among people whose parents were alcoholics. Study Participants. The sample included adults who were conditionally mentally healthy (N=52; 11 men and 41 women; Mage=24.5 years, SD=4.4), who grew up in alcoholic families and regularly attended the 12-step rehabilitation programme “Adult Children of Alcoholics”. Methods. A phenomenological analysis of the motives for people applying to the 12-step rehabilitation programme “Adult children of alcoholics”. Results. Individuals who grew up in alcoholic families describe “family pain” as a constant experience that accompanies them throughout their lives, due to traumatic childhood experiences in the past. Six motives for applying to the self-help rehabilitation programme “Adult Children of Alcoholics” for people who grew up in alcoholic families and experienced “family pain” were identified. They included: to overcome difficulties in communication, to cope with the death of parents, to find support and approval, to find people with similar experiences, to justify one’s own failures through the illness of a parent, to cope with current negative states connected to childhood experiences. It has been shown that attending rehabilitation programmes can both help a person to cope with the experience of “family pain” and strengthen fixation on the negative experiences of childhood. Conclusions. The process of experiencing a common family problem by people whose parents were alcoholics can be presented and described as a special systemic psychological construct “family pain”.