Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is hard work and part of that has to do with the distress progress can sometimes create in a family system. Yeah, that's right. We're going to look at how CBT can potentially impact a family from a systems perspective. Why? Because I'm to therapy what Ninjas are to martial arts. Actually, that's not true - I feel really guilty about neglecting the blog since getting a PS4 and Killzone Shadowfall, so I forced myself to write today. CBT is also a short-er term modality, involves homework and the idea of concrete change is on the table a lot sooner than folks may expect. It is not uncommon for clients to get angry at themselves, me, their family members, God, the guy who prepares their bagels in the morning...anyone.... …show more content…
Now this does not mean that the family is the primary contributor to the client's issues. It can mean that, but it can also mean that the issues the client struggles with has, in some way, shaped how the family works. Because of the (relatively) rapid and (sometimes sort of) roller coaster type progress CBT initiates in a client, the family system the individual lives in can become a bit confused and disoriented. Family members may feel an individual is getting worse when he/she may simply be more distressed because they are taking more risks. Other times, family members may feel and express disappointment after a lapse because they were, for a time, noticing progress in a loved one. This can feel disappointing to a client who is being asked, in therapy, to focus more on process in defining success. Family members may also fall back on their old patterns of dealing with their loved one which can not only engender frustration but may create an environment that makes it easy for their loved one to slip back into old patterns longer …show more content…
Family members, like clients, develop workarounds to symptoms in ways they can live with and sometimes these workarounds are time consuming, intricate and exact. Therapists should always leave the option of family involvement on the table for clients. It's even appropriate to make it a condition of treatment sometimes. With adolescents or young adults who do not wish to have family members involved, therapists will sometimes wait until the client feels distressed enough about the family's "push back" to bring the matter of family involvement up again. Once a family is in the room I don't necessarily go through the nitty gritty details of our work but I do speak to the treatment logic that is being used and, in general terms, talk about how families can act to help or hurt the process. Sometimes family members need therapy themselves to adjust to the changes especially if the issues are tied to loss or
As a social worker it is often complex to determine which theory to employ in practice, each client will warrant for an in-debt assessment of the presenting problem and goals the client desires to achieve. This paper will explore one family intervention model that can be applied to the Taylor family. The two theories analyzed are Cognitive Behavioral Family Theory, (CBFT) and Structural Family Theory (SFT); both theories can be utilized when assisting individuals or families. The social worker will focus on the Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy model when applying treatment and interventions to the Taylor family case.
While CBT has many advantages, it alone does not encompass all of the concepts I believe are necessary to tackle a client’s needs. Therefore, I draw upon concepts from various theories to assist clients in achieving their goals. Pulling from Reality therapy, a key concept I utilize is focusing on what the client is doing and how to get them to evaluate whether they’re present actions are working for them. CBT does use some form of this in the sense that one must examine and establish their cognitive misconceptions; however, I prefer to extract this concept from Reality therapy because CBT tends to do so by focusing on the past. I am a firm believer that while the past can shape who you are, it does little good to remain focused on it. Focusing on overt behavior, precision in specifying the goals of treatment, development of specific treatment plans, and objective evaluation of therapy outcomes all come from Behavior therapy (Corey, 2013, p. 474). Behavior therapy is highly structured much like that of CBT. By utilizing this aspect of Behavior therapy, I am better able to closely observe where a client is currently and where they are headed. Lastly, I pull from Person-Centered therapy as the final key concept of my counseling approach. PCT focuses on the fact that client’s have the potential to become aware of their problems and resolve them (Corey, 2013). This Person-Centered therapy concept has overlap with CBT as
Gladding, S. T. (2010). Family therapy: History, theory, and practice (5th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
The client stated that she came to therapy because she has been feeling really lonely and feeling as though that she is not enough since the death of her father. After the death of her father, her mother did not pay her any attention; she understood that her mother was grieving, especially when her grandfather passed a year later. I stated that the frequent death that surrounded her mother, seem to have caused her mother to distance herself from her. She responded “yes, and it even gotten worse when my mom started to date and eventually marry my stepfather”. She mentioned that once her little sister was born, she became jealous and envious. I emphasized with her by stating that she must have felt as though her little sister was going to take the attention that she sought from her mother. After confirming that her mother paid more attention to her sister and stepfather, she mentioned that during this time she began to cut herself in places that no one would notice. The pain did not take the feeling away, but she wanted to know that if she could still feel pain after the thought of losing everything. However, the only person who paid her any attention during this time, was her grandmother. Her grandmother showed her the love that her mother nor “father figure” never showed her. I stated, “the love that your grandmother showed was not the love you were
“Cognitive-behavior therapy refers to those approaches inspired by the work of Albert Ellis (1962) and Aaron Beck (1976) that emphasize the need for attitude change to promote and maintain behavior modification” (Nichols, 2013, p.185). A fictitious case study will next be presented in order to describe ways in which cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to treat the family members given their presenting problems.
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.
Moreover, the foundational approach to structural family therapy are that families’ are views as psychosocial systems, attached within social systems, which operate in a transactional patters. The transaction patterns are how, when and whom to relate, and reinforce systems. As a result each family duty are carried ou...
...h it is usually short-term, it can be adapted to some lengthier timing. In addition, CBT’s techniques can provide a nice distraction and help slowly down a person’s thinking, as an example, thought logs. A person, who is not in touch with his or her own emotions and cannot articulate how they feel, can use a thought log during the week and at the next session together the clinician and the client can explore the feelings and emotional aspect. Together, my clients and I set the agenda, goals and tasks, a very integral part of the session. Once my client has begun to think and behave in a healthier manner, I provide positive reinforcement. The level of enjoyment in the progress that is taking place is a rewarding feeling when my client’s new way of thinking has given rise to a healthier way of behaving and thinking, in return diminishing her negative cognitions.
Cognitive behavioral therapy commonly known as CBT is a systematic process by which we learn to change our negative thoughts into more positive ones. CBT is a combination of two types of therapy, Cognitive Therapy and Behavioral Therapy. Cognition is our thoughts, so cognitive behavioral therapy combines working with our thought process and changing our behavior at the same time. Cognitive behavioral therapists believe that our behavior and our feelings are influenced by the way we think; also our mood is affected by our behavior and thought process. So CBT tries to tackle our thoughts, feelings and behavior. Scientific research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is affective for a wide range of mental health problems. The purpose is to bring positive change by alleviating emotional distress such as depression. CBT starts by breaking down your problems into smaller components, often trying to identify particular problematic thoughts or behavior. Once these problems are broken down it is then suggested a straightforward plan in which the patient and therapist can intervene to promote recovery.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of treatment that focuses on examining the relationships between thoughts, feelings and behaviors (NAMI, 2012). It is designed to modify the individual’s normative dysfunctional thoughts. The basic cognitive technique consists of delineating the individual's specific misconceptions, distortions, and maladaptive assumptions, and of testing their validity and reasonableness (Beck, 1970). By exploring thought patterns that lead to maladaptive behaviors and actions and the beliefs that direct these thoughts, people with mental illness can alter their thought process to improve coping. CBT is different from oth...
Goldenberg, H. & Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family therapy: An overview (8th ed.). Belmont CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
The CBT theoretical formulation focuses on the whole family. “As behavior therapist shifted their attention from individuals to family relationships, they came to rely on Thibaut and Kelley’s theory of social exchange, according to which people strive to maximize rewards and minimize costs in relationships” (Nichols,
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.
The study result also indicated more effective retention and treatment achievement for severe cases. The study results suggest a significant contribution to existing research on benefits of Family systems paradigm for engagement and therapeutic treatment.