What are the Benefits of Family Sculpture?

Small child shows his family

Child shows his family

  • Accessible and appealing across the age spectrum.
  • Rapidly engages clients in sharing their stories.
  • Multi-sensory: helps clients communicate through kinesthetic, visual and verbal means.
  • Grounded in family systems theory — provides insight into family structure: boundaries, cohesion, hierarchy.
  • Research shows the Kvebæk Sculpture Tool has both construct and convergent validity as a measure of cohesion and distance.
  • Valuable tool for making accurate assessments about family functioning rapidly and in a non-intrusive manner.
  • Empowering, client-centered, process.
  • Concretely involves client in setting treatment goals.

    Sculpting, then sharing how she sees the family.

    Sculpting, then sharing how she sees the family.

  • Beautiful hardwood — natural variations in wood grain mean each figure is unique.
  • Sculpting promotes self-awareness and insight.
  • Process strengthens empathic connections among family members.
  • In workplace and in organizational development, the KST is a useful tool to illustrate relationships, and to promote conflict resolution.

The KST will help you make accurate assessments in record time and effectively engage your clients in attaining their goals. As you follow steps outlined in the manual, you will more successfully engage adults and children in the therapeutic process. You will be able to provide each family member with a new way to express ideas and feelings about self and their family — of how they feel related, or alienated — and with few words, place themselves in the picture.

KST gives you “handles” to further explore feelings and relationships. Sculpting deepens affective and cognitive awareness.

  • Applications include: direct client work, supervision, consultation, and research.
  • Show the family pattern using a visual and tactile tool.
  • Clarify roles and relationships in client system.
  • Obtain concise information about cohesion, hierarchy, and adaptability.
  • Resource in cross-cultural communication.