Family Belief Systems: A Proposed Typology and Applications

Belief systems guide an individual's perceptions, behaviors, and interactions. Understanding an individual's belief systems can be beneficial in assessment, treatment planning, and service delivery. Belief system development is impacted by different factors, including the belief systems held by an individual's family-of-origin. At this time, there is not an available theory or instrument that identifies the components and characteristics that are included within family belief systems. To fill this current gap, we developed a typology of family belief systems and an associated illustrative figure labeled as The Family Belief Systems Wheel. The proposed typology is presented followed by discussion of the practical applications for the field.