Communication Theory And Family Therapy Essay

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).

Reflective essay on Therapeutic Communication In the video “pregnant stroke” a 28 weeks pregnant woman, Salie has suffered from a stroke and been taken to the hospital for medical care. The video, as per my opinion, is a very good illustration about therapeutic communication between the patient and the health care providers. Therapeutic communication is a complex ability that includes many nuances and may oblige a range of diverse approaches, it is a state of communication between a patient and a health professional, like the nurse, that involves techniques and processes which effectively promote understanding and also develop a good rapport between the two. I would give some stress on verbal and non-verbal communication also, as both are equally important in such circumstances.

John Banmen said “Virginia Satir, the pioneer of conjoint family therapy, has, over the years taught, and developed a family therapy system based on the belief that people have the resources to move their life patterns from a basic survival level to a higher level of becoming more fully human.” A brief overview of Satir’s work will define communication and self-esteem as Satir would use them, create an understanding of family dynamics, which allows the reader to fully conceptualize how Satir’s put her theory into practice.

Structural family therapy is a model of treatment based on systems theory that was developed by Salvador Minuchin. Structural family therapy features emphasis is mostly on structural change as the main goal of therapy; it pays close attention to the individual but also acknowledges the importance of family in the healing process of the individual.

Bateson’s work on double-blind communication influenced many therapists to begin to think of communication from a different view (Madanes, 1981) According to Bateson, families become trapped in dysfunctional patterns when they cling to solutions that don’t work (Haley, & Richeport-Haley, 2003). Madanes states that, “The approach suggests that the interchange of messages between people defines relationships, and these relationships are stabilized by homeostatic processes in the form of actions of family members within the family” (Madanes, 1981).

In this essay, I intend to reflect on a situation I encountered during my first community placement I had the opportunity to develop my communication skills not just theoretically but also practically, facing a real life environment. My placement made me aware of the importance of interpersonal and communication skills which are very important in the delivery of care. Throughout my nursing career, I will be encouraged to develop reflective practice skills and become a reflective practitioner. Reflection refers to a series of steps that you may take to question and explore an experience with the aim of learning from it. I will discuss the importance of communication in order to maintain a therapeutic relationship.

1.3 Review methods of dealing with inappropriate interpersonal communication between individuals in health and social care settings

"The road is not the road; the road is how you walk it." – Juan Ramon Jimenez

Before the systemic concept was introduced into my worldview, my vision on what are the goals of therapy were limited — to teach family members to communicate with each other and in the event of excessive arguing, to play a role of a mediator. I thought my intention is to help one family member to explain the issue and to induce another member to listen. People often missing a listening skills and they need to be gradually introduced to this ability. However, systemic concept greatly enhanced my understanding of the metaphorical goals of the therapy.

Systemic therapy was based on Minuchin’s Structural Therapy model (1968) followed by Bateson's cybernetic model (1972) The first order cybernetic model considerd that problems within a family system should be focused on by strategically solving problems, meeting family goals and help change a person's dysfunctional behaviour. D Shazer (1985). These concepts in Systemic therapy were known as the major paradigms and were taught by therapists such as Minuchin in Milan until the information-processing systems were introduced. They were characterized by the therapist's observation of the system from the external social world. Minuchin S & Fisherman,HC (1981)

The first long-term goal is to improve communication skills among each family member. The interventions created to achieve this goal includes: 1) Rosalyn and Carl will complete weekly worksheets and homework assignments provided by their family therapist, 2) Each family member will learn and practice using I-statements to decreasing blaming behavior and increase self awareness, and 3) Each family member will write a letter to address one another and identify how their feelings in regards to the problems identified in therapy along with their ideas of how they can be a part of the solution to decrease the anxiety in the family.

Case studies are individuals or families that require assessment and interventions to help the client/clients. Each requires a varying, even unique, degree of assistance based on their circumstances. In this case, the Charles family, a blended family are the clients. The Solution Focused Brief Therapy Model is the primary model being used to gather information, assess, examine, set goals for the family. The overarching goal is to help the family improve their communicative skills goals and create a cohesiveness and support for all family members.

Why is it important that you are able to communicate effectively with people in your job role?

Thus, when someone dominates and believes there is a “right way” to which everyone must conform then everyone in the family, including the dominant member must sacrifice part of their genuineness to accommodate the system. For this reason, Satir explained that one of the most important determinants of a functioning family in the Growth Model is congruent communication and self-esteem or

Communication is the process of gathering meaning from the world around us and using verbal and non-verbal messages to share this meaning with others. (Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond, 2005) More specifically, interpersonal communication can be defined as; “a distinctive, transactual form of human communication involving mutual influence, usually for the purpose of managing relation ships.” (Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond, 2005, p. 6) Interpersonal communication is extremely complex and encompasses many different themes and issues that affect many aspects of our daily lives. These