Case Analysis : Family Analysis

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.

Gurman, A. S. (2008). Clinical handbook of couple therapy (4th ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

In case study nine, “The Family I Have,” we explore the relationship life of a Jewish girl named Myra during her adolescent years. Her story primarily focuses on her family relationship issues being that she neglected her family for her friends and other aspects of her life. This case study explores the relationship transition from family first to friends first as Myra went from childhood to adolescents. Like many adolescents, Myra’s shift is further driven by the newfound independence of adolescence, However, her desire for independence and means to gain it may have been more extreme than the stereotypical adolescent, causing turmoil in her and her family’s lives. Her story also analyzes the concept of family and the roles that each member plays within the unit. Eventually, Myra tries to strengthen her relationship with her family during her college years but wonders if it’s too late because the damage of their roles is already done.

The basic concepts of this type of therapy are boundaries, subsystems, complementary and alignments which are easily applied and grasped. The most important aspect the therapist must keep in perspective is that every family is made up of structure and that these structures are seen only when the members of the family interact. If the therapist does not consider the entire structure of the family and intervene in only one of the many subsystems are most likely not to attain a lasting change.

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).

Donahue, P. (2005, July-September). Current perspective and future directions for social work practice and research. Families in Society, 86.3, 359-366.

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.

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

From a structural therapy perspective, it would be important to work on re/defining and restructuring the family so that it can operate in a more functional and healthy way. Clarifying and defining the boundaries between Nancy and her children, particularly Sarah, will be critical in trying to erode the enmeshment that is currently occurring. These treatment goals might be more difficult to achieve with Melanie and Amy considering they are currently living with their great grandmother; however, effort on the social workers part should still be made.

Family therapy is a technique that has many alternative approaches to every aspect of treatment which Nichols (2014), states may present a challenge when describing a basic technique. The two models of family therapy in which I feel that I would be most effective and comfortable with would be, experiential family therapy and solution-focused brief therapy. I feel most comfortable with these models because, I adapt to the role of the therapist of both therapies naturally. According to Nichols (2014), when families seek therapy they are stuck in a life-cycle transition, sometimes they are obvious and sometimes they are not obvious. I’ve found that during the first session an excellent question is to ask the client why now so that they can

Haley and Madanes’ approach to strategic family therapy argues that change occurs through the process of the family carrying out assignments issued by the therapist. As described in Madanes’ Strategic Family Therapy (1981), “strategic therapists attempt to design a therapeutic strategy for each specific problem.” Therapists issue directives that are designed to shift the framework of the family to resolve the displaying problem. Treatment of these issues would include intense involvement, carefully planned interventions designed to reach clear goals, frequent use of therapist-generated directives or assignments, and paradoxical procedures.

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

Approaches to Family Therapy: Minuchin, Haley, Bowen, & Whitaker Treating families in therapy can be a complex undertaking for a therapist, as they are dealing not only with a group of individuals but also with an overall system. Throughout history several key theorists have attempted to demystify the challenges families face and construct approaches to treatment. However, there have been key similarities and differences among the theoretical orientations along the way. While some have simply broadened or expanded from existing theories, others have stood in stark

Every family has a unique system with a set of rules, mostly unspoken, that govern their behavior and interactions. In dysfunctional families, the symptom of their dysfunction is typically sourced within their family system. The symptom also has a function – it protects family members from uncomfortable conflict. Dysfunctional families and couples often maintain negative patterns of interacting, and are unable to transition into new behavioral patterns without therapeutic intervention. In order to help families develop out of their systematic ways of behaving, it is important to understand the specific family system that is presented. With a keen understanding of the family’s culture, beliefs, etc., the therapist can develop therapeutic rituals, which are prescribed actions aimed at altering behavioral patterns that are responsible for maintaining the symptom. The ritual is not a verbal explanation or criticism of the family system, rather it is a specific set of actions designed to help families create new patterns of interaction and meaning in their relationships. (p, 5).