FAMILY SYSTEMS THEORY
Family Systems theory is an approach to treatment that emphasizes the interdependency of family members rather than focusing on individuals in isolation from the family. This theory underlies the most influential forms of contemporary family therapy. In every family there is structure. Life comes at us in all sorts of ways. Some families deal with changes by eating. Obesity serves as a protective function of stability and in turn is continued by family patterns. Family systems theory provides a framework to explore how the family system influences health behaviors. Family-based treatment programs that incorporated training for parenting skills, or child management, and family functioning had positive effects on youth and older adult weight loss. Programs to improve physical activity and dietary behaviors that targeted the family system also demonstrated improvements in health behaviors.
PSYCHO-DYNAMIC THEORY
Psychodynamic Theory is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior, feelings, and emotions in an attempt to mobilize the strengths of the personality and the environment. The psycho-dynamic theory consists of patterns of thought that include the motivation for life. The thought patterns and factors that drive an individual in young adulthood, which are constructed by childhood experiences, are different from that of an middle age or older adult. Obese people consume food because they are responding to their moods and psycho-dynamic influences. These influences are constructed over the process of a life span and help form patterns in decision making when it comes to a healthy life. A person has a complex inner world, of which he/she may be unaware but that interacts powerfully with his/her conscious life; a developmental process exists, each stage of which interacts with the person's current state and is with the individual throughout life.