Behavioral Patterns Of The Family System

The family system is founded on the notions that for change to occur in the life of an individual, the therapist must understand and work with the family as a whole. In working with the family, the therapist can understand how the individual in counseling functions within his family system and how the client’s behaviors connect to other people in the family. This theory also holds the perception that symptoms are a set of family habits and patterns passed down by generation and not a result of a psychological problem or an inability to change (Corey, 2017). Furthermore, the family system theory holds the idea that when a change occurs everyone in the unit is affected by the change.

For this assignment, two different theoretical approaches will be discussed, Bowenian family therapy and structural family therapy, and they will be used individually to construct a treatment plan to help clients reach their goals. Within each treatment plan discussed, short-term and long-term goals of therapy will be established and the family’s presenting problems will be defined. Two techniques that will be assigned to help them reach their therapeutic goals and any expected outcome from using those techniques will be discussed.

Family is something that plays a tremendous role in our life. Even though the structure of families has changed over the years, it is important to acknowledge that there many families out there whether they are traditional families, nuclear family, stepfamilies or others which tend to have different types of problems in their families. Therefore, many families attempt to go to family therapy in order for them to obtain help in solving the different types of issues they might have at home. As stated in the book Family Therapy by Michael P. Nichols (2013), “The power of family therapy derives from bringing parents and children together to transform their interaction… What keeps people stuck in their inability to see their own participation in the problems that plague them. With eyes fixed firmly on what recalcitrant others are doing, it’s hard for most people to see the patterns that bind them together. The family therapist’s job is to give them a wake-up call” (2013).

The film, Precious, is a powerfully charged story that delves into the family dynamics of a 16-year-old girl and her struggles to survive an onslaught of treacherous experiences. Throughout the film, the viewer is enveloped in a dramatic web of extreme situations, experienced by the main character, and those to whom she is close. The themes of domestic violence, rape, incest, drug addiction, gambling, poverty, social justice, social services, housing and education are laced together throughout the story. Particularly poignant attention is paid to various systems that help shape the experiences of the characters. The social services industry, and its associated workers, educators and administrators, set the foundation for the social themes that are highlighted by this film.

As we know families as always changing and so are the dynamics. Communication is a transactional process that is changing over time. Two central scopes of family behavior are adaptability and cohesion. Each is divided into four levels to create 16 combinations. Overtime it has changed to fit into cohesion, adaptability and communication.

Family therapy is a form of psychotherapy employed to assist members of a family in improving communication systems, conflict resolution, and to help the family to deal with certain problems that manifest in the behavior of members. In most cases, deviance in a family member is an indication of underlying family dysfunctions. This paper looks the counselling procedure that can be applied to help the Kline family solve their problems. It answers certain questions including those of the expected challenges during therapy and ways of dealing with the challenges.

Divorce and abuse can cause children to become depressed, repressed, or cause them to be more inclined towards criminal behavior (Dacey, J. S., Travers, J. F. & Fiore, L., 2008). The findings from “Adolescent satisfaction in family rituals and psychosocial development: A developmental systems theory perspective” were extremely interesting because of the variances in family rituals not just from culture to culture but from family to family. This study showed that not only are family rituals important to psychosocial development but that individual satisfaction with these rituals has an impact as well. Counselors and other practitioners may want to take these findings in to consideration when treating an adolescent. Not only should they question whether there are family rituals but how the adolescent feels about these rituals. Parenting education materials that reinforce the practice of rituals in families may need to include information on how personality and family factors are important when planning how rituals will take place. Paying attention to these factors may help families practice rituals in a way that benefits the development of individuals in the family (Eaker, D. G., & Walters, L. H.

My first assumption of family therapy was to involve the parents and the individual that had the problem. This book explored further what it

The model to use with the Jacques family would be the cognitive-behavior. The cognitive-behavior therapy offers different treatment. These treatments include adjunctive interventions, communal needs, and aversive control (Wetchler et. al., 2015). The adjunctive interventions would be to look at their behavior interaction. This would include that the Jacques family becomes aware of their communication skills. Communal needs involve the Jacques family learning intimacy, nurturance, and

In the Structural Family Therapy model, therapy is not focused solely on the individual, but upon the person within the family system (Colapinto, 1982; Minuchin, 1974). The major idea behind viewing the family in this way is that “an individual’s symptoms are best understood when examined in the context of the family interactional patterns,” (Gladding, 1998, p. 210). In SFT, there are two basic assumptions: 1) families possess the skills to solve their own problems; and 2) family members usually are acting with good intentions, and as such, no

therapy aims to improve family relations, and the family is encouraged to become a type of

After a thorough review of the textbook and the course material, the specific family system approach that I choose to explore is the Bowenian Approach for this literature review. This specific family system approach is also known as the Bowen Family System Theory as well (D.V. Papero, 2006). The Bowen Family System Theory was established by Murray Bowen, a theorist and psychiatrist who specialized in treating children who were deranged and had schizophrenia (Rockwell, 2010). In the 1950s, Bowen wanted to explore a new venture so he decided that he wanted all of the family members of each child to be involved in an therapeutic process at the same time (Rockwell, 2010).

A concept of homeostasis helps us to understand where to look for a problem: "A system seeks stability. Yet to continue to be healthy, it must also be able to change." (Becvar and Becvar, p. 22). The therapist should identify where the system is lacking balance. Whether the family unit is too closed and does not allow any new information to enter. In this case, members will experience stagnation and absence of the development. If the system is it too open, it will not provide enough stability. Both cases will affect participants by elevation of tension and anxiety generated between relationships. Another very important goal of therapy is to reduce tension and anxiety by introducing to families a broader way of experiencing their

Understanding how a family works and interacts is the key objective to therapy. In this paper, Bowen and the Structural Family Therapy model are presented as the two which is most appropriate and effective according to the personality and beliefs. Bowen family theory can be considered to have laid the foundation for this therapeutic model. The Bowen family theory puts value on the role of the family as an emotional system in which the functions of each member of the family is connected through interactions within the family. In this family system, members are constantly changing and adapting their behavior to achieve a balance and stability within the family system.

It is well established that family history can help shape a person's approach towards the world, including how a person interacts in professional settings. In fact, many people believe that patterns of behavior are transmitted across generations, and that only a real understanding of these patterns of transmission can lead to understanding and change in dysfunctional adaptations. Therefore, investigating family origins often helps provide insight into individual motivations and desires that may not be apparent at first glance. Certainly, my own family of origin is fraught with exactly the type of uncertainty and difficulty that leads many people to choose to become helping professionals. In fact, when thinking about homeostatic equilibrium as a function of family life or a psychological state, it occurred to me that I could not really think of any significant periods of time in my childhood when tension or drives had been reduced or eliminated to a point that one could consider the family unit or the individuals within the family to be at equilibrium. While I do not believe that I have embraced the same types of non-productive behaviors as the people in prior generations of my family, I do acknowledge that their behaviors have helped shape my own response to the world.