Reconstructing a Sense of Relational Agency in Family Therapy Jan De Mol 1 , Ellen Reijmers 2 , Lesley Verhofstadt 3 , and Leon Kuczynski 4 1 Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Louvain, Belgium 2 Interactie-Academie Antwerp, Belgium 3 Department of Clinical Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium 4 Department Family Relations & Applied Nutrition, Guelph University, Canada The concept of agency is relevant in family therapy. As family therapists we approach each family member as a full agent, which means that what each person thinks and feels, makes sense, and that each person contributes in a significant way to the construction of a relationship. A person’ s sense of relational agency is constructed in rela- tionships through processes of relational influence. Thus, agency is a relational construct and is dependent on bidi- rectional transactions in a relationship. A person’ s sense of relational agency refers to the belief a person has about being able to influence another person, that this influence is significant for the other, makes a difference for the other, and contributes to the construction of the relationship. Many family members who enter therapy have lost their sense of relational agency. In this paper we discuss ideas how to reconstruct family members’ sense of relational agency in therapeutic practice. Keywords: agency, dialectics, family therapy, relational influence, responsiveness, therapeutic alliance Key Points 1 Importance of the concept of sense of relational agency for family therapy. 2 Conceptual tools to think about processes of relational influence in relationships. 3 Framework to do something with clients’ feelings of disadvantage. 4 Draws the attention of the therapist to the effects of communications and interactions in family therapy. 5 Stimulates the inner dialogue of the therapist. The concept of human agency has been studied both in the domain of family therapy (Madsen, 2007; Mutchler & Anderson, 2010; Tomm, 1989; White & Epston, 1990) and in psychological research (Bandura, 2006; Deci & Ryan, 2002). Considered as an individual construct, human agency refers to the ontological nature of humans as intentional, self-organising, proactive, self-regulating, and self-reflecting beings who actively contribute to their life circumstances (Bandura, 2001). Family therapists rou- tinely approach humans as agents, by taking a collaborative and participative stance in the therapeutic relationship, and by focusing on reconnecting persons as agents to their own intentions, wishes, thoughts, and emotions (Bertrando & Arcelloni, 2014; White, 2007). However, an individualistic conception of agency is insufficient because family therapists also focus on interpersonal processes in family and other close rela- tionships, and stress their importance for humans’ psychological, relational, and emo- tional well-being. When considering the context of interpersonal relationships, human agency has to be understood as a relational concept. A person’s sense of agency is inherently relational because how one acts and per- ceives oneself as an agent depends on the social and relationship context in which Address for correspondence: jan.demol@uclouvain.be Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy 2018, 39, 54–66 doi: 10.1002/anzf.1278 54 ª 2018 Australian Association of Family Therapy