Ritual as a therapeutic vehicle in family therapy: an action research project to explore and develop practice

This study explores the use of ritual in family therapy practice through an action research process. From its strong presence in the early days of the profession, ritual seems to be much less visible currently and this project seeks to explore use of ritual in current family therapy practice and to consider whether and how ritual should be revived as a therapeutic resource now and for the future. The project worked from a broad base of definitions of ritual, considered in an historical context, with a focus on how the concept is used currently and what seem to be the ‘ingredients’ and function of ritual. These included ideas about embodiment, process, change, liminality. The Covid pandemic, as a significant context to the project, was considered throughout, particularly in the light of Covid social restrictions affecting ‘ritual’ in all its forms universally at that time. Qualified family therapists were recruited to the project though open invitation posted on professional websites and snowballing. Participants were invited to take part in a two stage action learning set (ALS) where ideas about use of ritual in personal and family therapy contexts were explored via group discussions and exercises. Three groups were recruited, one carried out face to face and two via Zoom online platform. The method used was based on co-operative action research models (eg McNiff 2017). Transcribed data was analysed using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2022). Also, ethnographic observations of one ALS exercise and entries in the notebooks given to each participant were used for illustrative purposes in the write up. Findings affirmed the potential for revitalising use of ritual in family therapy, highlighting for example, ritual as ‘just below the surface’, the anchoring function of ritual, the usefulness of ‘ritual talk’ in therapy and the scope of ‘liminality’ in both thinking and practice.