Family Crucible Essay

In The Family Crucible, the authors provide a unique approach to family therapy. In reading the text, skillful therapists worked with a seriously dysfunctional family (Brice). The therapists motivated this family to embark on a journey that would eventually allow them to help themselves. An interesting technique used with the family that I choose is termination. The therapists made it very clear that the family can drop out of therapy at any time. It is their responsibility to continue or not to continue. During the termination phase David and Carolyn's marriage became "alive" and they work "individually" but "together" when conflicts erupt . The couple stops being each other therapists by taking responsibility for their own growth increased

difference and family unified shows the door to freedom and happiness as being in the self not in the other. The most obvious change was that the Brice did not consider argument a wrong thing to do; it was merely a part of family life.
Whitaker and Keith (1982) explained termination by using the analogy of the adolescent leaving the parents. Sometimes it works out peacefully and sometimes it happens in a fit of rebellion. If the family leaves peacefully it is because the therapist has acknowledged growth in the clients, suggested that they terminate therapy, and the family has agreed to terminate. If the family leaves like a rebellious teenager, then it is viewed as their empowered choice to take responsibility for their own lives. The only bad termination is when the family decides that they would rather see another therapist and then proceeds to do so. In any case, this philosophy of termination gives the family great freedom to decide their own pace and level of growth. Other therapies have a preconceived notion of what makes a healthy family and they are not ready to let the clients terminate until they have reached that level. The therapist may have had many ideas about what makes a healthy family; he did not force those ideas upon the family. The family was thus empowered to live its life according to the members' own choosing and own reality .
The authors’ approach to helping the Brice family was probably the most influential and awakening aspect of the text. The technique of using two therapists to help a family through therapy is unique and one in which I have never heard of. Also, it was interesting that the two-therapist approach allowed one to get close with therapy and personal to the issue at hand and the other to stay professional and evaluate the situation from a neutral point of view. However, this book is a case study of one family's experience in family therapy which lay down some of the concepts of Experiential Theory. The family entered into therapy by believing that Claudia was their entire problem. And in order for the parents to see that Claudia was only the perceived problem the therapists reversed the blame that the parents had projected on to their daughter. I believe this technique was most attractive. Through the art of helping the family to see their circumstance in an unexpected way, the therapists initiated a change allowing the family to step outside their norm and see that their failure in marriage was affecting their parenting. The therapists evoked a confrontation between the two blaming individuals in order to get the family to surface their real feelings and issues .
The development of symbolic-experiential methodology required the therapist to “take everything said by the patient as symbolically important as well as realistically factual".

The experiential family therapy is very much a product of the existential–humanistic tradition. Whitaker defines the healthy family as “a three to four generational whole that is longitudinally integrated - maintaining a separation of the generations”. However, Whitaker looked to spontaneity as a marker of healthy communication in families. The healthy family allows each member to admit to problems and to identify competencies. The therapists insisted that the entire Brice family be present in therapy. The symbolic-experiential treatment model considered it crucial to begin the treatment process with the entire family. Whitaker, C. A. (1982) has emphasized that "Our demand to have the whole family in is the beginning of our 'battle for structure.' It begins with the first phone call"(p. 204). In the early part of treatment, the co-therapists battle for structure and they were directive. They used silence, confrontation and other anxiety-building techniques to unbalance the system. They acted as catalysts, which picked up on the unspoken and discovered the undercurrents represented by the family's typical communication patterns. In the mid-phase, the therapist functioned as stress activators, growth expanders, and creativity stimulators. In addition, Self-disclosure, creative play, teaching stories, spontaneous interpersonal messages, the use of metaphor, and the sharing of parts of the therapists' lives that reflect a working through in their own living are used generously. As therapy proceeded, the therapists took increasingly smaller roles, as they sat back and watched, respecting the independent functioning of the

family.
In the book, the use of Experiential Theory in contrast to the course readings was similar. This theory is based on the premise that the root cause of family problems is emotional suppression. Its concepts are free choice and conscious self-determination, self-awareness which leads to the ability to make decisions and take responsibility and growth is facilitated by intervening at the level of process rather than content. The entire family system preferred; however, this theory will work with individuals and couples. The role of the therapist is to be directive, active/educator, provides for new experiences by being a foreign element in the system. The techniques used in this theory are existential encounter, role-playing, family sculpting, family drawing, and the therapist may rely on the spontaneity of just being himself/herself . In this model change occurs when individuals in the family become aware of feelings, faulty communication patterns, inappropriate roles, restrictive rules and/or unrealistic expectations and take responsibility to make new choices that maintain healthy relationships. Lastly, termination is determined when clients are aware of their choices / can express feelings, partners operate as separate individuals, children are not drawn into the parents’ pain, family adapts more easily to change, balance between sharing and autonomy, family can communicate clearly and congruently, and personality parts are integrated into a whole .
My philosophy of this theoretical approach is I felt as if the journey was the true crucible. A crucible that allowed the family to see the major cause of their problems in a way that also allowed them to find a solution to dealing with the problems. In regards to the co-therapy, I felt as if the therapist had a therapist that provided security when issues got really elevated and one therapist got pulled too far into the troubled system that was being explored. Thus, the co-therapist method allowed me to see a new way to confront the fact that when one becomes too close to the work they cannot see the complete overall picture. The therapists’ stance in being serious and in control is something I could completely agree upon. After reading the book, I felt that this approach was appropriate for this family.
Consequently, when the confrontations turned into physical fights the therapists seemed surprised that such emotional distress took place. My thoughts were, what more did they expect. I completely understood what they were trying to accomplish, however, I had a hard time understanding their methodology. I guess they wanted to see how this would play out while being naïve to the consequence /reality. However, the father was constantly consumed with his work and the mother seemed completely bored with her life and wanted a change. Here is where I had difficulty in understanding the authors’ point of view. They thought that the parents were not consumed in the self, but just had difficulty showing affection toward the other. Now, I believe the there was a lack of affection, however, if they were any more consumed in doing what the self-wanted this may lead to more difficulty when confronting the Other's’ wishes and the Self’s wants. Another difficulty I have with the authors’ view on family therapy is the fact that they seemed to think that every issue was rooted in past family issues. This may have been a good angle/intervention to try and tackle. However, trying to find out which issues in the past are the cause of the present problems can be very time consuming and expensive. The method would end up being a process of elimination. I agree that this type of therapy can deemed to be very beneficial and revolutionary, but I do not believe that this type of family therapy would be for everyone.
Subsequently, I do agree that this book did a great job illustrating why sometimes family therapy and not individual therapy can be the right solution. The therapists had courage and they knew how to meet the irrationality of life and how to bring out people's primary impulses. I agree that therapist is at the heart of what good psychotherapy is all about. It was stated that therapy for the therapist is crucial; therefore, I believe experiential training is essential for the therapist who would provide his/her clients with experiential treatment. I could see myself utilizing this theory in my future practice by helping the clients eliminate emotional suppression. This would be accomplished by ensuring them of free choice and enabling self-awareness and self-determination through existential encounters and role-playing. Additionally, I would rely on the spontaneity of just being myself.
In conclusion, it was inspirational to read about the therapy in The Family Crucible. This highly readable, inspirational, and useful book deserves a central place on every therapist's list. I cannot think of a better approach for fixing the problems in the Brice family. Additionally, I am glad that this family was held together. I enjoyed reading the book and having an actual example of the family therapy process. I noticed that the author seemed to be pushing the idea of having co-therapists, and I can understand the advantage/importance of having someone else on your side when you are taking on a whole family. One could say that people are frequently afraid of changes, even if their current situation does not satisfy them. They try many ways to cope with their problems, formulate a pattern, and closely follow the pattern to obtain a sense of security.
However, I believe change is good, but it is also risky, especially when people have to expose themselves to make such a change. Therefore, keeping the status quo will be the easiest, not necessarily the most effective way to cope with the reality. Over several years ago I made a career change from working in an auto plant to being a social worker. I did not need to expose myself for this change, but the process has been a long period of time. At times, I still wonder if it was worthy. It is through prayer and encouragement from people who care and help me that, I keep going. We surely cannot go through life changes completely alone. We need determination, help, sometimes therapy, and faith.