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Strengths and weaknesses of family therapy
Strengths and weaknesses of family therapy
Strengths and weaknesses of family therapy
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Both individual and family therapy are forms of treatment which provide individuals with guidance in working through conflicts, building a stronger sense of self-worth, and a healthier lifestyle. Although both forms of therapy are beneficial and provide treatment for patients, they do have different aspects in which they focus on. Individual therapy focuses on the individual and their internal conflicts they may have. In this type of therapy individuals are engaged in a one-on-one relationship with their therapist. The therapy is centered around one client and they are able to self-reflect on their feelings and emotions. Individual therapy is suited for clients who need guidance facing their fears and obtaining a good sense of self. People …show more content…
Some goals of family therapy are to have better communication, learn from each member, and ultimately move towards having family unity. The texts states, “The power of family therapy comes from bringing parents and children together to transform their interactions” (Nichols, 5). This not only applies to parents and children but also to spouses, siblings, and other relatives. Having someone that is not part of a family is good because it helps mediate what and how things are being said. A family therapist can help run things so there can be some kind of breakthrough of progress. In family therapy, group dynamics are an essential part of treatment. Group dynamics include the interaction of members and how they work in cooperation in supporting each other during therapy. Family therapy is suited for clients who are grieving a loss in the family, have a strain in a marriage due to situations like infidelity, or maybe have financial issues. All these situations are not easy to work through. So going to family therapy can help the individuals work through their problems. As a client I would be most comfortable with individual therapy. I know I can have a …show more content…
Another reason why individual therapy would be better is because in group therapy due to a large group of people, the therapist may not pick up on a patient 's nonverbal cues. In contrast, in individual therapy the therapist may pick up on their patient’s cues that they may not feel comfortable or they are not feeling like participating in the therapy session. In a group setting, therapists can not spend long periods of time on one individual while there is a room full of people. If a client had a family and individual therapist I think it would be beneficial for them. Seeing a family and individual therapist provides benefits such as different perspectives, environment, and therapy exercises. A good thing about two therapists is that if a patient feels they are not getting the treatment they are looking for in one therapy, they are able to go to
Overall, each theory is effective with the approaches and similar focuses. A marriage, couple, and family counselor is expected to understand families, show them empathy, provide positive guidance, and use effective listening skills. These strategies will not only benefit families, but it will also benefit the counselor’s practice.
...In this specific style, the therapist tends to have the most success in gaining knowledge of the patients feelings of inadequacy, fear of intimacy, and low self esteem.
In therapy, people could have someone there for them who could listen and understand them.
Experiential Family Therapy is a therapy that encourages patients to address subconscious issues through actions, and role playing. It is a treatment that is used for a group of people in order to determine the source of problem in the family (Gurman and Kniskern, 2014). Experiential Family Therapy has its strengths and weaknesses. One of the strengths of this therapy is that, it focuses on the present and patients are able to express their emotions on what is happening to them presently. The client will have time to share everything about his/her life experiences one on one without any fears. As a result, it helps the client in the healing process because, he/she is able to express their feelings freely and come out of the problem. Therefore, in this type of therapy, the clients are deeply involved in solving their issues. It helps clients to scrutinize their individual connections and to initiate a self-discovery through therapy, on how their relationships influence their current behaviors (Gurman and Kniskern, 2014). By examining their personal relationships through experiential family therapy, family members are able to
...n all family members get involved in trying to help. By the individual’s family being apart of their therapy session, it shows how much their family members care for them and want them to get help with whatever issues they may be having. This is very important because it is a sign of love and it is showing the support that they have for one another. Therapist have also found that during strategic family therapy, they can help all family members with helping to encourage each other as well as create rules and interactions that are psychological healthy for all family members who are involved. It will make it easier for the family members to all get along and understand each other. When one person in the family is having issues, the other members should take the time to talk to one another and help each other out, especially the family member who is in need of help.
Therapy is as unique and diverse as the people who seek it. There are many types of therapy that are used to treat different kinds of problems. There is no perfect or absolute form of therapy, because therapy varies for each person. One of the branches of therapy is humanistic therapy. This therapy is considered an insight therapy, along with psychoanalytic therapies. However, there are differences between humanistic and psychoanalytic therapy. Humanistic therapy focuses on self-development, personal growth and responsibilities. This type of therapy guides the client to find their own answers. The therapy focuses on emotional awareness: how the person feels versus why that person feels that way (Oltmanns & Emery, 2012).
Structural family therapist have exemplified within the context relational therapies that uncovers stressors in relationship between individuals (Vetere, 2001). Structural family therapy has been known to be called “interventive approach” because of the “intensity” to encourage clients to change (Hammond & Nichols, 2014).
...ate with their therapists. “A systematic relationship between the therapists' personal reactions to the patient and the quality of their communication, diagnostic impressions, and treatment plans” (Horvath & Greenberg, ). While positive attitudes from the therapists are more likely to result in a successful treatment, negative attitudes will not develop the necessary cooperation from the clients side to successfully reach the goal of the therapy.
In regards to the questions and answers, I feel as though my personal approach to counseling is based off of my own priorities I set forth in myself that follow more closely to the aspects of Reality Therapy, and Adlerian Therapy. Though Reality Therapy primarily focuses on the present, it still has some grounding in the past but not as much as Adlerian does. Even knowing this I still feel these two therapies are more closely related to my own belief system. I am in agreement with Reality Therapy, in that we are responsible for the choices we make. I trust that we can exercise great control over our lives, over how we can change to better ourselves, and to better our relationships with those around us. I feel that we all as a society are influenced by basic needs: belonging, survival, freedom, and power, and that these needs can be used as motivational tool when working with clients.
Goldenberg, H. & Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family therapy: An overview (8th ed.). Belmont CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
My theoretical approach to family therapy is very integrative as I believe families cannot be described nor treated from a single-school approach. I view humans through a humanistic and existential lens but am more technically structural and solution-based. With this integrative approach, I believe I will be the most effective in helping families grow and reach their goals.
Furthermore, my goal is to let client fix their problems on their own through insight and guidance from the therapist. I envision a successful therapeutic process being when a client follows their goals and achieves positive outcomes in their lives. I seek to gain a therapeutic process with my clients by building rapport, trust, and helping them gain insight. When my clients are stuck and need motivation, I plan to remind them about their goals and the positive things that will come with change. If family is important to a client, informing the client about their family and their happiness may help motivate them to continue to
Each member of my family have to feel like the therapist is working with them if not change will not occur. The use of family mapping will help distinguish the types of boundaries that exist among my family. With the disengagement within my family subsystems, using the enactment technique will illustrate the interaction among family members. I am close to the siblings that I grew up with and my father his siblings were very close. With that being said, I will like to see the dynamic between my aunts and uncles when they are all in the same room together after years of being apart. I chose structural family therapy because at the end of the therapy session, I want the restructuring of my family structure.
Probst (2015) conducted a study on how personal clinician therapy may enhance the therapist’s ability to create and maintain a strong clinician-client relationship. Upon review of Barbara Probst’s article, the author agrees that the integration of personal clinician therapy into the repertoire of extensive practitioner training is essential and desirable (2015). This opinion is in correlation to Freud’s position that to
I believe therapeutic goals are attainable because therapists allow the client to lead the discussion and do not try to steer the client in a particular direction. I think therapeutic goals are realistic because the therapist accepts the client for who they are and displays support and care no matter what the client is facing or experiencing. Also, if the therapists shares his or her feelings honestly, it can help teach the client to also develop important skills. I believe the person-centered therapy helps to increase self-esteem, more self-understanding, less guilt, and insecurity, and more positive and comfortable relationships with others. I believe the main goal of the person-centered therapy is for the client to realize their capacity for