Childhood Health Issues And Substance Abuse

The goal of Bowen’ theory is to review developmental patterns within the familial system and the stress centered around the anxiety caused by closeness or the lack thereof (Penny, 1999). Bowen’s theory works to facilitate a decline in stress and anxiety by enabling the clients with education as to how the emotional system works and focusing on how to modify self perceptional behaviors instead of working to change others within the system (Penny, 1999).

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.

In conceptualising the development of the family system, Bowenian therapists are past-focused. They believe that emotional fusion that is passed down from one generation to the next is the cause of psychological problems (Nichols, 2010, pp 119-122). Normal family development according to Solution Focused therapist produces families with flexible structures, clear boundaries and well-organised hierarchies. This is quite similar to Bowenian’s concept of normal family development. Differentiated individuals after all need to have clear boundaries. Similarly, flexible structures and well-organised hierarchies do promote low anxiety and therefore generate positive emotional contact between family members. The difference is that instead of being past-focused, Solution Focused therapy assiduously avoids the past and focuses their clients as much as possible on the present and future. (Nichols, 2010, pp 321).

Growing up in the household under substances influence can cause severe damage to the child. Parental substance abuse has a significant impact on family function, and it may also contribute to child maltreatment. It heightens the risks to both of the physical and emotional safety of the children, and it generates children’s problematic outcomes. Children who grow up in such families may also experience mental health issues, social isolation, financial difficulties, and exposure to stressful life events and so on.

Bowenian family therapy views human beings not simply as individual parts that make up a collective whole, but as a collective whole made up of various parts. That is, human beings are relational from birth and belong to a family or some other type of collective system where the joys and problems they experience are done not in a vacuum, but are shared and passed along from generation to generation. “The main goal…is to reduce chronic anxiety by 1) facilitating awareness of how the emotional system functions; and 2) increasing levels of differentiation, [with] focus on making changes for the self rather than on trying to change others” (Brown, 1999, p. 95).

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

Prior to establishing his theory post-World War II, Bowen studied the origins of schizophrenia and postulated that transgenerational maternal enmeshment was its cause. Bowen’s thoughts on this were similar to those on individuation. Though he believed psychoanalysis was too individualized for family therapy, the psychoanalytic notion that one’s interactions are driven by unconscious motivation was the theory’s germ of inspiration. Goldenberg & Goldenberg (2012) write that the most essential piece Bowen’s family systems theory is that the individual needs to resolve anxiety arising from their family of origin to find a sense of individuality. This concept is traceable to Bowen’s psychoanalytic roots as a psychiatrist.

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

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

Based on Bowen Intergenerational Therapy, the therapist should be aware of the level of differentiation for each individual and especially recognize who has the highest and lowest level of differentiation between generations as the main stimulant to change. Also, Bowenian therapy focuses on how the quality of relationship between family members how affects their emotions. Genogram is vital to help the therapist to recognize patterns between the intimate family and extended family members. A number of patterns emerged in the genogram. Both parents are emigrant from Mexico. AF came from family with patterns of

Bowenian family counseling approach presents similar aspects that range throughout various family counseling theories. One approach to family counseling that is similar to Bowenian theory is structural therapy. Structural family counseling focuses on habitual behaviors and the role individual’s play in relation to those behaviors (Bohlinger, n.d.). Bowenian therapy reviews a minimum of three generations to assess transgenerational patterns. Both therapies point out a form of boundaries, however, Bowenian therapy looks to differentiate individuals within a family group, as oppose to structural therapy, which desires to change, clarify, and mark boundaries within a family (Nelson, n.d.). Experimental therapy recognizes discord when togetherness and autonomy are not balanced, like Bowenian therapy (Bohlinger, n.d.). Like solution based and cognitive–behavioral therapy, the role of the Bowenian counselor is to teach and coach clients (Nelson, n.d.). Also, like Milan therapy, Bowenian therapists are to remain neutral and avoid taking side within the family (avoid triangles) (Nelson, n.d.). Like object-relations therapy, Bowenian therapy seeks to help clients differentiate themselves (Nelson, n.d.). Although the Bowenian concept presents several similarities to other approaches, there are numerous

This paper will summarize the theory of family systems developed by Murray Bowen. It will describe the eight key components to Bowenian therapy and the techniques used during practice. Strengths and limitations will be exposed, followed by a summary of the importance of integration between psychology and family systems theory.

In the system of family therapy Dr Murray Bowen developed a new approach to family therapy that was different from other family theorist because it emphasized on the family’s emotional system and its history that may be traced through the family dynamics of the parents, and grandparents. His approach looks at human emotions and the patterns that are commonly developed and similar in all family systems.

This family is seeking therapy assistance due to the following reasons: grief and loss encountered during Kate’s cancerous condition and after her death, the lawsuit Anna placed onto her parents, Jesse’s delinquent behavior, and the parents’ deteriorating relationship. The family is concerned with the alliances that have been building within the family and in regards to their negative communication skills. The Fitzgerald family feels that the family is becoming dysfunctional and distant. Having a positive attachment amongst each other at all times assists with minimizing issues, and it is much easier to find solutions to any problems or challenges when positive relationships emerge (Cassidy and Shaver, 2008, p. 200). This is why the Fitzgerald family is seeking help now.