Contextual Theory. The Overall Purpose Of This Brief Paper

What we bring as a person to the counseling room determines the direction we take with our clients. Coming from what I describe as a dysfunctional family and my questions of why is my family the way it is, why do I behave or think the way I do I drown to the family counseling theory. Many people including myself have why questions about their family. Some of those why questions are, “why is my family like this, where did I get this habit from, will my family ever change? The family systems approach helps solve some of those why questions.

When we are speaking about Carl Whitaker (1988) and his Symbolic-Experiential Family Therapy, we can say he was against labeling of the individual´s existence problems by a simple behavior, cognition, or following a specific psychology model. Luepnitz (2002) express he went further when he emphasized that psychopathology was only a distraction from the real-existential problems faced by most of the families. Whitaker was called as an innovator when he introduced his controversial therapy, but was also extensively criticized. His therapy focus in “present-centeredness” and open clients dealing with their family problems, how they perpetuate their past problems, and how perceived and communicated when playing the role of coach.

The psychodynamic approach was proposed by Freud. This approach towards personality is based on the notion of underlying forces such as the id, ego and superego which are either present from birth or develop during childhood shape our behaviour and personality as such. Experiences in childhood are proposed to be the basis of human personality, according to Freud and as such Psychodynamic theory proposes that some undesirable unbalances between the id and superego can create the arising of ego defence mechanisms which explain individual differences in behaviour. Freudian theory has been adapted by neo-Freudians, however while psychodynamic

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 Christian world view perspective integrating the pragmatic approach of CBT with the relational methodology prevalent in family systems theories just seems like a sound idea. Christians express that mankind is created in the image of God and exhibit the relational quality found in Him. Therefore, combining the two modalities would benefit clients in that change is sought with CBT from an “outside-in” orientation and with family systems from the “inside-out”. CBT is based on the dynamic formulation of patients’ problems and an individual conceptualization of each patient in cognitive terms (Beck, 2011). However, changing only one part (i.e., the individual) of the whole (i.e., the family unit) may be difficult at best or impossible at worst if the presenting problem is not conceptualized to include how familial relationships, patterns, communication, and behaviors affect both inter- and intrapersonal skill deficits.

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

Contextual family theory/therapy was developed by psychiatrist Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy (Nichols, 2013). Basically, contextual theory is based on the idea that the system would benefit from each individual giving and receiving with a fairness and balance that incorporates mutual understanding (Nichols, 2013). Boszormenyi-Nagy saw loyalty as a very important component to the family system. He, “believed that family members owe one another loyalty and that they acquire merit by supporting each other,” (Nichols, 2013, p. 172). I was instilled with the same belief because I had a similar theme in my family: “family comes first, and you always help family.” There is also split loyalty, which is when parents pushed children to pick one parent or the other to be loyal to. An example of split loyalty I experienced was when I graduated from college, my parents made it seem like I had to decide where my loyalties lied, which they interpreted to be decided by my choice

Psychology explores human behavior and the human mental process figuring ways to improve the thinking and attitude of an individual’s existence. Sometimes, different techniques are used and tried to properly resolve the problem within the multitude of possible behavioral issues. Moreover, Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, developed many theories, psychodynamic therapy, for clinically treating people with mental health problems through their unconscious mind; Then, Sigmund Freud’s theories or therapy, rather, diverged into other types of therapies such as Biological Psychology or Cognitive Psychology. No doubt, there are various perspectives, both strong and weak, in the field of Psychology using different techniques on different

Contextual family therapy model is a transgenerational mode that is based on the assumption that a family system behavioral patterns are mostly developed from one generation to another generation. This particular model is more of a distinct type model that is considered to be closely compared or associated to the psychoanalytic family model (Gehart, 2014). The major assumption for change in the contextual approach model, is to help all in the family system to establish a greater balance in each relationship through the intervention of fairness, trust, loyalty, and mutual support. These interventions is considered to be the focal point for the contextual family therapy model (Gangamma, Bartle-Haring &

Narrative therapy is a social constructive philosophical approach to psychotherapy that has been developed to help clients deconstruct their negative and self-defeating life stories while rebuilding healthy and positive life stories through the use of various techniques. This paper will discuss the leading figures, some concepts and techniques, ethics, some similarities and dissimilarities of other theories compared to Narrative therapy. This paper will also address my personal integration of faith regarding the theory of Narrative therapy.

In respective articles surveying Winslow Homer’s Life Line and Eastern Point, Jules D. Prown and Sarah Burns investigate the relationship contextual background and its resulting analysis has with art. Prown claims societal conventions work in conjunction with artistic choices, allowing for a deeper, expansive, understanding, and substantiates the significance of an artist’s milieu. Although context plays a paramount role in artistic dissection, Burns exceeds customary techniques in her argument that artwork is driven by societal constructs. Ignoring aesthetic details as well as an artist’s upbringing causes the viewer to experience art as a flat event since visual principles blossom into an identity.

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

This application paper will discuss my personal theory of counseling or psychotherapy in a number of different areas. Specifically, I will discuss the seven areas of interest. First, I will discuss and describe

The psychoanalytic perspective, is the outlook that behavior and personality are effected by the conflict between one’s inner dreams n and expectation of society. Most of this conflict occurs in unconscious, which is outside the knowledge of an individual. Renowned psychologist, Freud established the psychoanalytic theory as an explanation for perplexed phenomena such as the meaning behind dreams, slips of the tongue, and behavioral reflex reactions to stressful situations. The unconscious is a primary focus in psychoanalytic theory due to its typical development in childhood and the ways in which it influences nearly every detail of an individual’s life. The unconscious mind also holds unvented memories and unexpressed urges that make their process into the conscious mind through a variety of different means. However, topographical theory of the mind states that conscious, preconscious, and unconscious serve as motivating forces in human behavior. Corsin & Wedding (2011) define the conscious as mental activity which individuals are fully aware of, preconscious as thoughts and feelings that could be easily brought to mind and unconscious as thoughts, feelings, and desires of which one is unaware of.

The psychodynamic perspective to psychology is based on Feud’s theory of psycho-analysis, which assumes that our mental processes and behavior reflect the constant psychodynamic conflicts, which rage within us (Bernstein, 2011, p. 15). This approach comprises of all the concepts in psychology, which consider human functioning based on the interaction of forces and drives within