Olson’s Circumplex Model

David Olson’s Circumplex Model has become one of the most influential frameworks for conceptualizing adaptability within family therapy. The model evaluates family systems on two primary dimensions: adaptability and cohesion. Adaptability, in Olson’s terms, refers to the ability of a family system to change its power structure, role relationships, and relationship rules in situations that demand adjustment. By categorizing families along an adaptability continuum (from rigid to chaotic), the Circumplex Model helps identify whether a system’s response to challenges supports or undermines family health.

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What Adaptability Looks like in Families

Adaptability expresses itself in daily interactions, decision-making processes, and leadership approaches. Olson identifies four levels: rigid, structured, flexible, and chaotic. Rigid families maintain strict rules and clear hierarchies, often struggling to change when necessary. Structured families display reliability and predictability but with some capacity for role shifts. Flexible families more readily adapt roles, routines, and leadership as conditions change, benefiting from their openness to new solutions. Chaotic families lack any consistency, which can undermine stability and emotional security.

Clinical Implications: Balanced Adaptability

Therapists using the Circumplex Model seek to foster balanced adaptability, meaning a family maintains enough structure to ensure predictability and security, but remains flexible enough to respond to stress and growth. Families at either extreme—overly rigid or chaotic—present greater risk for dysfunction, because inability to adapt (or adapt excessively) disrupts emotional bonds, communication, and problem-solving. A balanced approach allows families to shift leadership, redefine roles, or update rules when a child ages, a member leaves, or crisis occurs, improving overall well-being.

Adaptability Across Models

Adaptability is echoed throughout multiple MFT models. In Structural Family Therapy, Minuchin emphasizes reorganizing boundaries and subsystems so families can adjust to developmental or situational challenges—essentially increasing adaptability for healthy functioning. Strategic Family Therapy advocates for greater flexibility in problem-solving behaviors and family hierarchies. Even Experiential and Solution-Focused approaches encourage families to explore new roles, routines, or emotional responses, all oriented toward improving adaptive capacities. Solidify your knowledge of MFT theoretical frameworks with FSI’s eStudy Program. For a strong MFT models review, consider MFT Model Audio Reviews or the comprehensive MFT Models Pack.

Assessing and Building Adaptability

Therapists assess adaptability by observing how families navigate conflict, change, and developmental stages—looking for flexibility in leadership, role assignments, and daily routines. Tools from Olson’s model (such as family assessment protocols) provide standardized ways to measure adaptability and cohesion. Therapeutic interventions may range from role-play assignments (where members practice new roles or rules) to discussions about household routines, crisis management, or leadership styles. The goal is to strengthen both structure and flexibility so families thrive regardless of the circumstances they face.

Adaptability and Family Resilience

A family’s adaptability is integral to its resilience — its capacity to withstand, recover from, and grow through adversity or transition. Balanced adaptability encourages open communication, emotional safety, and the emergence of new solutions, supporting members through major life events. By integrating adaptability into clinical assessment and intervention, marriage and family therapists help families become more resourceful, collaborative, and emotionally secure, creating a platform for ongoing growth and stability within ever-changing social and personal contexts.