Virginia Satir (June 26, 1916 – September 10, 1988) was an American author, clinical social worker and psychotherapist,[1] recognized for her approach to family therapy.

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

Satir's high school years coincided with the Great Depression, and to help her family she took a part-time job and also attended as many courses as she could so that she could graduate early.

In 1932, she received her high school diploma and promptly enrolled in Milwaukee State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.)

[citation needed] During her time as a schoolteacher, she recognized that involved and supportive parents not only help students in the classroom but could also heal family dynamics.

[10] Satir's skills and views about the important role the family has and its connection to an individual's problems and/or healing process led her into becoming a renowned therapist.

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

[10][12] Two years later, Satir was appointed to the Steering Committee of the International Family Therapy Association[13] and became a member of the advisory board for the National Council for Self-Esteem.

[10] From the possibility of a nurturing primary triad of father, mother, and child she conceived a process of Human Validation.

Using a variety of role-plays, including a "family reconstruction", this woman came to see her mother as her "best friend", as detailed in a 3½ year follow-up interview.

Another of Satir's work that would have lasting impacts on many fields, including organizational management,[5] is the Process of Change model.

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

On some occasions, individuals might have found a temporary coping skill or solution, but if it does not bring the desired results, they might regress to the stage of chaos.

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

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

[15] My declaration of self-esteem I am me In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it – I own everything about me My body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself – I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears – I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me – by so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts – I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know – but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me – However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me – If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought and felt turned out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded – I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me – I own me, and therefore I can engineer me – I am me and