Family Therapy Research Paper

A therapist who works from a family system perspective takes on the role of teacher, model and consultant (Corey, 2017). The therapist is active in forming a relationship with the family by acknowledging and

A few of my foundational clinical skills strengths would encompass possessing a non judgmental demeanor, empathy, and genuineness. I have always had a nonjudgemental view going as far back as I could remember. Perhaps the reason stems from listening to extensive hours of gossip as a child during family events. I learned to despise conversations that focused on judging peoples reactions or behaviors. I believe this may be the leading reasons I can express empathy to others. In Fellers & R’s (2003) article, The importance of Empathy in the therapeutic alliance explains that empathy guides the therapist to evaluate the clients behavior and therefore be less judgmental. Empathy also leads to possessing a raw genuineness about one’s self

family and relationships among relatives or spouses. Marriage and family therapists usually have an office of their own, but spend a majority of their time meeting with various patients, being a socially-driven job. There is not much room for growth because the entry-level position is very similar to a seasoned therapist’s position; a counselor is expected to have all of the knowledge and skills necessary at the time of being hired.

What made you want to become a Marriage and Family Therapist? It was something I always wanted to do, but for various circumstances, I was never able to. I was a plumber for almost 40 years until I finally decided to have a career change and

The counselor will ask questions to clarify and summarize the family’s concerns. I will answer any questions and address any concerns raised by the family about the therapy process. I will also assist in laying down parental authority and a sense of impartiality among the children. This will reinstate equilibrium in the family and motivate all members to participate in the therapy.

Marriage and family therapists believe that the family patterns may affect an individual’s psychological and physical well being and therefore need to be part of therapy. During a therapy session even if only one person is being interviewed, the therapists focuses on a set of relationships that the person is embedded in. The entire family is involved in solving clients problems regardless of whether the issue in individual or family.

However, in this short matter of time, I believe I am able to acknowledge some my strengths and weaknesses as a new counselor. At this point, I feel my strengths involve a sense of humor, empathy, genuineness, creativity, reflecting, restating and most importantly, a heart to serve others. Not only is making someone smile the highlight of my day, but being present with an open heart, mind and ear is what drives me to be a helper. As there are good qualities about myself, there are also weaknesses as well. For instance, I need to improve on my listening skills. I think I am still having difficulty listening to what is being said, how it is being said and why it is being said along with catching non-verbal gestures. As I am still get nervous during session, I think I get too caught in the “content” of the conversation versus catching the emotion/feelings behind what is being said. Another weakness that I have, is not recognizing the moment when I should ask the client to explore more about a comment they had said. Bearing in mind that I am still growing in the counseling field, my goal is to build on my strengths and sharpen my

Marriage and family therapists are very much needed and are growing in demand. The stigma of seeing a therapist for marital and family problems is disappearing thus making people more likely to seek help for issues they cannot resolve on their own. There has also been an increased recognition of the field of marriage and family therapy (http://www.bls.gov). Over half of managed health care providers and employee assistance programs employ or contract with MFTs and 91% of graduates in 1992 from COAMFTE accredited programs were employed not long after graduation (http://www.aamft.org). According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the field of marriage and family therapy is expected to see a growth of 30% by 2016 making it one of the fastest growing of all occupations (http://www.bls.gov).

It takes very special people to want to make a difference in people’s lives, to want to help them to be better. Some people seek to become counselors after overcoming a most important life challenge. The individuals that seek the profession of marriage and family therapy do not think of this work as a job or career, more typically a constellation of life experiences that demand explanation and a sense that others seek one out for assistance and emotional sustenance become driving forces leading one to counseling profession (An Invitation to Counseling Work).

I realize that the desire to help people isn’t enough to succeed as an occupational therapist. I know you also need to have certain qualities. I believe I possess those necessary qualities. I am patient. One little brother and six younger cousins were a huge help in teaching me this.

The Career that I am most interested in is the Family and Marriage therapist. However, what exactly does this career entail and will it be a reasonable fit with my personality and passions? Research and critical thinking well determine that. Firstly, what is a Family and Marriage therapist? These practitioners deal with mental issues, anxiety, and other conflict within the structure of marriage and family matters. They are concerned with the mental health and the long term well-being of the individuals they help in the structured areas and roles in family and marriage unit (AAMFT). The career of Family and Marriage therapist is most intriguing.

While working with clients, I am able to document casework activity as required. I am very positive which helps me to encourage and empower family easier. I understand that this job is unpredictable because of each family’s circumstance and environment is different. I can adapt to change and provide crisis

In general, what do you consider some of your personal strengths? Of what interpersonal skills/abilities are you proud? A personal strength of mine is collaborating well with others. Also, when engaging with another individual, I am able to have patience as well as be an attentive listener. These qualities are important in the field of OT because teamwork is the best approach. Finding the answers to the problems is not going to be independently based all the time. Colleagues help each other out by combining unique ideas in order to come up with the best possible solution. While working with the patient, it is important to have the skill of being a good listener because hearing why they are there and what they are struggling with is necessary for assessing the situation in order to help him/her in the best way. Also, a patient is not going to be completely cured after one session of OT, so possessing patience throughout the entire process is a key factor that all OT’s should work towards.

My desire to complete a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy stems from my compassion to try to help and guide those who have marital issues. Also I have a passion to help families who are facing familial difficulties. I am a firm believer in the saying “all healthy family have issues”. It is okay to have problems it is how you work through the problems as a family that will determine a family dynamic. This degree will help me in my social work endeavors because my concentration was clinical with a specialization in families and children. The doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy will give me an opportunity to further my knowledge and ability to help those who are in need. After I graduate I plan on taking the licensing exam for my LMFT license. I plan on using my degrees, social work, LMFT license and experience to start my own group practice. The research question I may want to answer for my dissertation is

The strengths currently value the most lie in my ability to empathize, compartmentalize, and work hard. Empathy is part of what makes us human, and I see it as one of the most necessary parts to successfully working with clients. This position has been reaffirmed through each of my courses which have explored how we work with people. Examining how our presence and style effects how clients can see us and the impact empathy has on every aspect of therapy. My upbringing and experiences with different people has gifted me a natural empathy, but this program will hone those talents and experiences in to a tool impact other in a positive way. Juxtaposed to empathy my ability to compartmentalize and decompress in a healthy manner is an essential skill, especially for careers which suffer from high burn-out. My work with the Crisis Center emphasized the need to not take things too deep into myself when possible. I had to learn to see that even when a client doesn’t cannot be talked away from suicidality as a personal failure. I’ve learned I’m not going to change the world in an and a half conversation, but I can still make a positive difference in someone’s day or in someone’s thinking. This compartmentalization has impacted the way I decompress and take care of myself and has impacted the way I study, and how I handle the parts of the program I have struggled with.