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Resolving Conflict Within the Family
Family dynamics and family structure
Family dynamics and family structure
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The therapist would work to sense the triangles that are currently formed between family members. Also find understanding of the family by use of role reversals along with challenging the family with putting universal principles at odds with the family’s beliefs. By creating unbalance with warmth and support, the therapist looks to increase family cohesion and harmony. The therapist will also investigate the family dynamic by allowing them to express and name the symbolic interactions that are shared so that can be uncovered and understood. Once the family’s symbolic and real curative factors are addressed, the therapist can push for growth and maturity in the family. Because the family is seen as individuals in a family unit for example established …show more content…
They aim to make the family feel uncomfortable at times during the sessions while by creating confusions or disorganization. Still, they are done with warmth and in complete support of the family in order to create substantial, long-term growth and insight. One intervention would be the use of absurd comments to which the therapist may ask if Mary would prefer to leave Mark to marry her son Samuel. This intervention appeals to the universal principles to be at odds with the family’s beliefs. This types of comments are understood to be distasteful, but are said to force the family to think differently about the current family dynamic. Forcing the family to think unconventionally may unlocked emotions and provide new perspective on the dysfunctional roles that are currently being played between family members. In addition, the use of role reversals between family members can allow for insight to what the emotions or feelings that the other is interpreting along with the intentions and outcomes that exist. These interventions are subject to the experiences in the sessions allowing for the here-and-now perspective to be the catalyst in therapy. Also because there is a therapist’s use of self, interventions by the way of personal stories and metaphors are used to related more to the family as a primary goal to become integrated in the family dynamic. Lastly, the therapist would encourage the family to participate in free associations to bring forward the raw emotions and spontaneity during the
The Bowen approach to therapy is very different to that of other family therapies. It is centralized around the importance of family emotional systems and the history of the system, which can be traced through the family dynamics of the parents and grandparent’s families (Sharf, 2012). One of the main aims of Bowen therapy is to reduce anxiety or stress by minimizing conflict, which can be a result of conflicting relations within the family system (Ticho, 1972, Rivett and Street 2009). This essay is going to examine how Bowen hopes to achieve these goals through a critical examination of his account of change during the process of therapy. This will be done through an examination of the role of the therapist in the change, Bowen’s wider concepts and within these the operationalization of specific techniques. It will also examine Bowen’s attention to culture, suggesting that within the emotional system the role of culture is given less significance (Friedman 1991). The essay will then illustrate the effectiveness of the Bowen approach in producing change in a client; this will be done through a literary review of the research.
Structural therapy focuses on the family as a whole. It is concerned about how the issues effect the family relationships and connections. This theory concentrates on how well the understanding is amongst the family members and counselor. The members of the family are prompted to understand how the issues were created, where did the issues come from, when the issues started effecting their family, and what the family needs to overcome their issues. Its focus is to help others understand and improve negative behavior. The structural therapy concentrates on the interaction and boundaries of families with separating the whole family into smaller groups. The subsystems will create a clearer understanding of what issues are hurting their family environment (Gladding, S. T. 2010). The counselor is concerned about the members interaction because this reveals how strong the relationships and connections are in the home. The boundaries are important because they create an understanding that there are limits and order, and the boundaries can be diffused, rigid, or clear (Gladding, S. T. 2010). The counselor is expected to identify techniques so members can understand which boundaries are clear, positive, and healthy (Gladding, S. T. 2010).
It is characterized by looking for solutions, instead of problems. The family is involved in the development of goals. They will explore when things are good and what is in place to make these things good. The therapist and family will take from the positive and incorporate it into areas that are more difficult.
...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.
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).
Nichols, M.P. & Schwartz, R.C. (2004). Family therapy: Concepts and methods (6th ed.). Pearson Education Inc. US
They work with the family’s interaction, modify boundaries by strengthening diffuse boundaries and by softening rigid boundaries (Bitter, 2014). Family mapping is where the therapist would identify rigid boundaries, and mark symbols to mark boundaries (Bitter, 2014). Therapist use enactments to encourage family members to act out conflict situations that would happen at home. This encourages the clients to deal with problems, rather than just talking about problems (Bitter,
Family therapy is a branch of psychotherapy which involves working with family and couples in order to facilitate positive change and development. Family therapy emphasizes the role of family relationships on psychological health. There are various schools of thought in family therapy but they all agree that irrespective of the origin of the problem and notwithstanding if the clients consider the problem a family-related one, family therapy can often prove quite beneficial to the clients. Modern family therapy expands the definition of family to include not only parents and children but all the people who have forged long term roles and relationships and may not necessarily share any relationship by blood or marriage (1).
Structural Family Therapy offers a framework that provides order and meaning within the family connections (Nichols, 2013). Divorce for a family is considered a significant transition for all parties involved. When counseling a family going through divorce the structural family therapist’s job is to build an alliance with the family and obtain information about the structure. The structure of the family consists of the roles, interactions, organization, and hierarchy. Family therapy yields the belief that changing the organization of the family leads to change in the individual members. The structural family therapist often will try to become part of the family to gain a perspective of their issues as whole so not to place the focus on one individual. Joining is an empathetic approach in helping families explain and break down their individual stories without uncomfortable challenge or unnecessary confrontation (Nichols, 2013). It is important to note that family dysfunction that often leads to divorce is not attributed to one individual, but the entire family system. In structural family therapy, part of dealing with the issue of divorce in the family is to focus on the interactions between all the family members both positive and negative. Through these interactions the therapist can discover where the conflicts arise, which will in turn help the therapist understand how these negative interaction affect the family. Family therapy in these cases allows for repair of long-standing interactional patterns in which divorce is just one of a series of ongoing transactions that are disruptive to the child’s development (Kaplan, 1977, p.75). The structural family therapist often has the family play out these family interactions via enactments so that he can get a firsthand look at maladaptive patterns, roles, and
According to Minuchin (1978) there are several essential techniques of structural family therapy. Joining the family in a position of leadership will intervene and transform this structure of the family (Minuchin, 1978). Next, the therapists initiate family members to talk among themselves to create an enactments (Minuchin, 1978). Enactments help the therapist discover many things about a family’s structure (Nichols, 2010; Minuchin, 1978). Structural family therapist tries to assess the relationship of all family members by creating a structure map (Nichols, 2010; Metcalf, 2011). In this step the therapist may use the technique of intensity, which facilitated by using “strong affect repeated intervention or prolonged pressure” (Nichols, 2010
The therapist role is to encourage families to develop healthier and stronger relationships between one another (Crago, 2005). In Ana’s case, the therapist would work to identify possible intergenerational beliefs that are affecting Ana and her family, encourage the family to develop strong relationships and work to prompt autonomy in Ana, while helping to resolve conflict.
The primary purpose of building a therapeutic treatment plan is to visualize the entire picture of what is needed for the family and to avoid developing a plan based on symptoms. A therapist that proceeds to complete therapy without properly listening, observing and evaluating factors related to the family will have difficulties developing therapeutic task, addressing client goals that are unique to the family and maintaining interventions and understanding clues from the client’s perspectives. Additionally, the therapeutic treatment plan allows the therapist to become familiar with diversity concerns that he/she may not be familiar with (Gehart, 2014).
A counselor that may encounter a family such as this can use the systemic family therapy approach. The approach of systemic family therapy is an aid to clients with psychological disabilities. Systemic therapy differs from other therapies because it not only includes the individual but incorporates the family to build strength in their relationships so that symptoms seem less traumatic (Stratton, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to present how systemic family therapy can be effective in providing an understanding of the family and the diagnosed family member.
Family is something that most people have. Even people with no biological family have someone or multiple people that are close enough and care enough to be considered family. My parents divorced when I was one year-old, right after my little brother was born. I don’t remember a time when they were married to each other. Both my parents had been married once before, and my mom had a child from a previous marriage. Three years after the divorce, both of my parents remarried. My mom had another daughter with her husband, and my dad had another son with his wife. My mom has been married for fifteen years now, and my dad has been married half as many times; he is currently on his seventh marriage.
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.