28 Facts About Virginia Satir

Virginia Satir was an American author, clinical social worker and psychotherapist, recognized for her approach to family therapy.

Virginia Satir's pioneering work in the field of family reconstruction therapy honored her with the title "Mother of Family Therapy".

Virginia Satir's best known books are Conjoint Family Therapy, 1964, Peoplemaking, 1972, and The New Peoplemaking, 1988.

Virginia Satir is known for creating the Virginia Satir Change Process Model, a psychological model developed through clinical studies.

Virginia Satir died in 1988 in Menlo Park, California, of pancreatic cancer, aged 72.

Virginia Satir was born on June 26,1916 in Neillsville, Wisconsin.

Virginia Satir was the eldest of five children born to Oscar Alfred Reinnard Pagenkopf and Minnie Pagenkopf.

When she was five years old, Satir suffered from appendicitis.

Doctors were able to save her life, but Virginia Satir was forced to stay in the hospital for several months.

When Virginia Satir was three years old, she taught herself to read and by age nine, she had read all of the books in the library of her small one-room school.

From early years, Virginia Satir demonstrated an interest in family dynamics.

In 1929, her mother insisted that the family move from their farm to Milwaukee so that Virginia Satir could attend high school.

Virginia Satir graduated with a bachelor's degree in education, and worked as a teacher for a few years.

Virginia Satir finished her coursework for her master's degree in 1943, and completed her thesis for her degree in 1948.

Virginia Satir met with her first family in 1951, and by 1955 was working with Illinois Psychiatric Institute, encouraging other therapists to focus on families instead of individual patients.

MRI received a grant from NIMH in 1962, allowing them to begin the first formal family therapy training program ever offered; Virginia Satir was hired as its training director.

Virginia Satir offered insights into the particular problems that low self-esteem could cause in relationships.

Long interested in the idea of networking, Virginia Satir founded two groups to help individuals find mental health workers or other people who were suffering from similar issues to their own.

Two years later, Virginia Satir was appointed to the Steering Committee of the International Family Therapy Association and became a member of the advisory board for the National Council for Self-Esteem.

Virginia Satir viewed the reconciliation of families as a way to reconcile the world.

The Virginia Satir Global Network, originally named AVANTA by Satir, is an international organization that carries on her work and promotes her approach to family therapy.

In 1984, Virginia Satir encouraged marriage and family therapists to shift their focus to relationship education:.

Chaos, as described by Virginia Satir, occurs when something in the environment or in the individual changes.

Virginia Satir argues that in the change stage of chaos, therapists must help families and individuals navigate these emotions.

Virginia Satir published her first book, Conjoint Family Therapy, in 1964, developed from the training manual she wrote for students at MRI.

Virginia Satir's reputation grew with each subsequent book, and she travelled the world to speak on her methods.

Virginia Satir became a Diplomate of the Academy of Certified Social Workers and received the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's Distinguished Service Award.

Virginia Satir often integrated meditations and poetic writing into both her public workshops and writings.