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Essay about marriage and family therapy
Multicultural dilemmas in therapy
Essay about marriage and family therapy
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The decision to embark on the journey to become a marriage and family therapist is commonly influenced by personal experiences that impact and transform an individual. My experience involves countless medical appointments, multiple misdiagnoses, and an extraordinary will to persevere. The culmination of this arduous experience was my son’s Autism diagnosis at the age of three, prior to this diagnosis I worked tirelessly to obtain the help my child my needed. Being a parent of a special needs child leaves little to no option of failing; hence my child has taught me to be strong, even in the most difficult and darkest times of my life. This experience inspired me to help other families and individuals encountering hardship. Choosing a path As …show more content…
I specifically chose to enter this program because of its emphasis on social justice and the training of culturally competent therapists. I am driven by my experiences in navigating the mental health field which is still predominantly White. I find that the field of mental health is in dire need of minority therapist who can relate to clients in underserved communities. Since, the difficulties I encountered as a client influenced my decision to become a therapist, I want to serve others in my community who are experiencing similar challenges. During the first years following my child’s diagnosis, I learned the importance of resilience and that with proper support anyone can be resilient. That is my hope as I enter this field, is that I am given the opportunity provide support to families, couples, and individuals facing adversity. I hope that I can serve others and reciprocate some of the help and support that my marriage and family therapist provided my family and …show more content…
I have navigated and “danced” with several techniques, but I still have to settle for a theory that I would like to further explore. I recognize that it take years of experience in this field to find a therapy that to conform to and practice regularly. Nevertheless, it is appropriate for therapists to be flexible and explore various therapy techniques in order to better serve the diverse client population. I would also like to continue attending workshops and conferences in order to keep learning about new ideas and promising new treatments. Simply, with less than 100 client-contact hours I am not ready to formally adhere to a
... By scheduling an activity that the client can participate in and complete, it can give them a sense of mastery in a specific task. This can be beneficial for the client to feel accomplished. Another technique that I feel can be beneficial in therapy is role-playing. Role-playing can be helpful for a client to learn how to dispute irrational beliefs by becoming aware of negative feelings towards theses beliefs (Tan, 2011). In addition, role-playing can help the client to overcome their emotions and practice coping skills that are more effective. The last technique I would incorporate into therapy would be relaxation training. I would suggest ways that can help the client relax including, deep breathing, meditation, yoga, a massage or exercising. By getting the client to have methods to relax, I think it can help with managing their thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
Gladding, S. T. (2010). Family therapy: History, theory, and practice (5th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
The conventional view of family therapy is a narrow one. According to this view, therapy treats an entire group - at least father, mother, and child - not just an individual patient. In the therapeutic situation, these family members present a major component of their everyday life.
Annually, therapy helps an estimated 25 million people, and about 80 percent in almost all fields of therapy finds it to be effective. With therapy, therapist has helped people live happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. Therapy is a time consuming yet rewarding career that allows someone to help strengthen a person’s physical, emotional, and mental state.
Goldenberg, H. & Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family therapy: An overview (8th ed.). Belmont CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based practice in the treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders for young children. This family centered treatment approach emphasizes on improving the quality of the parent-child relationship and changing parent-child interaction patterns. During PCIT, therapists coach parents via one-way mirror while they interact with their child. The therapist teaches the caregiver strategies that will promote positive behaviors in children who have disruptive or externalizing behavior problems (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 1). The use of live- coaching helps the parent gain strategies in the moment, and allows the therapist to see the different dynamics of the parent-child relationship.
A family assessment is a process for gathering and organizing information in ways that can help a family prevent and or solve problems. The goal is to obtain a full understanding and unbiased view of the strengths and problems. A good assessment is about relationship building, engaging families in an exploration of their strengths, values and goals to build mutual trust and respect. Then when problems do arise, this relationship can be the foundation of open communication allowing the doors to open for identification of additional supports needed to reduce or eliminate the factors causing harm.
Psychotherapy has been Around for many years and has a major role in our world today. It has grown over the years and now there are known many hundreds of different theories about. Clients that use therapy are for different reasons as to cope with a change of life experience or a disorder or for personal development. Integrative psychotherapy has been around for over one hundred years but has really only come into the forefront of therapy since the late 1970’s. “Research has indicated that psycho¬therapy is moving toward an integrated approach to therapy” (Norcross, 2005b). The therapy is a mixture of all theories that are tailored by the therapist professional experience to work with the client in a positive way. This assignment will look at the factors needed to enable the therapist to carry out successful therapy. It will highlight and explain what the five principles of integrative therapy are. Also, with the common factors and how they are important and across all therapies. Also,
165). The therapeutic method involves the therapist interacting with the client and inspiring the client’s development “by listening, guiding, instructing, and requiring” (Jones & Butman, 2011, p. 311). In ET, the counseling process is tailored to assist the client in developing through the awareness of knowledge that they are the ones that make the choices and decisions in their life about the direction their life will take. Instead of utilizing a mental illness model, the effectiveness is built on a real, authentic relationship that encourages prosperity and development in the client. The therapist and the client have a relationship, the therapist is a mentor to assist the client in the art of living a full
The goal of the therapist is to prevent relationship breakdown, and relationship distress. The therapist can work on the client's communication skills, remove conflict, and increase commitment levels in the parental subsystem (Schofield, Mumford, Jurkovic, & Jurkovic,
A mental health counselor develops a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families and groups to accomplish mental health and career goals. Helping others to accomplish their goals and listening to various stories of hardship have always played a part in my life. Stories of others have helped me get through rough times, and so did my own personal stories do the same for others. My story may help save a life tomorrow. It is a rewarding career path that one may enjoy which requires excellent communication skills and a commit between each other.
Concepts we discussed in both my Social Work and African American Studies classes such as white flight, housing discrimination, lack of school funding, and lack of access to adequate health care were reinforced when I began my practicum senior year at a local community mental health organization. The agency served a client population that was over 90% black. At practicum, I applied my skills learned in class such as communication, empathy, motivational interviewing, and strengths based perspective to form a bond with clients and ensure that services the agency delivered were what the clients needed. I combined my Social Work Research course with my practicum and designed a client satisfaction survey that assessed client involvement, satisfaction, and desired changes. These changes were presented to the board to help guide changes in activities and policies for the next fiscal
I think the major technique is focusing on the person and not the problem which would help the client to achieve independence and allow the client to cope with current and future problem they may face. Another major technique is the client determines the course of directions of therapy. Another technique is the person-centered therapy which is a non-directive which allows the client to be the focus of the therapy session without the therapy giving advice.
The resilience of human spirit has always awed and inspired me. This was especially true of the single mothers struggling with post-partum depression that I visited on a weekly basis as a part of a public health program. I quickly realized that each of them had an interesting story to tell, and a need for personal interaction and compassion. With each conversation, I learned more about their illness and the impact it had on their lives. The incredible resilience that these women have shown in the face of tragedy and depression both moved and
There are so many different types of family relationships. Whatever form a family takes; it is an important part of everyone’s life. My family has played an important role in my life. Good family relationships serve as a foundation to interactions with others. Supportive families will help children to thrive. The quality of the family relationship is more important than the size of the family. Making the relationships priority, communication, and providing support for one another is key to developing relationships. Family relationships are what make up our world today; they shape the ways that we see things and the ways that we do things.