Published: March 2026

Keywords:
Alcohol, family, cybernetics, attachment, system, complexity.

Marilena Tettamanzi

Psychologist, systemic therapist, teacher of the Milan Approach, she is responsible for the student’s internships at the Centro Milanese di Terapia della Famiglia. Clinical supervisor and leader of therapeutic groups in consultancy with public services and private social sectors. PhD in Psychology of Communication and Linguistic Processes, collaborates with the Research Unit in Emergency Psychology and Humanitarian Assistance of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

marilena.tettamanzi73@gmail.com

Abstract

While the alcoholic is engaged in a symmetrical battle with the bottle, what happens around them? How do family relationships co - evolve? How do they interact with each other’s attachment styles? Why do the partners of alcoholic patients often appear rigid in extreme and strict positions, yet struggle to break free from dysfunctional relationships?

This article revisits Gregory Bateson’s essay “The Cybernetics of the Self,” broadening the perspective to include the relational system that serves as the context and co - evolves with the alcoholic’s battle with the bottle. The process is observed from the partner’s point of view, in an attempt to complexify and understand the relational dynamics, which, if not understood, can lead to iatrogenic clinical interventions.

Is it possible to perturb the system, opening up new evolutionary possibilities by moving beyond the linear interpretations often imposed by the effects of dependent behavior?