My Family System : Play Ball

     Of course the coach is going to be the team leader but the kids also need a peer to step up and be a leader. In a not so informal role Gerry Bertier rises to the challenge and establishes himself as the team leader. He shows us this a few times in the movie. Once when he approaches one of the other players, Julius Campbell, and asks him why he is playing so selfish. Gerry then listens to his teammate’s opinion and acts accordingly to do what is best for the team, because that is what leaders do, even if it mean calling out his best friend and making him step it up. Gerry also represents the inspiration of the team because every time the team is down he picks them up and brings them together.

According to Beavers Systems Model (Friedman, Bowden & Jones, 2009, p.10)., the healthy families are “competent” or “optimally functioning”. The movie family was quite opposite of the Beavers model. Although the children of the movie family somewhat looked up to their parents as leaders but were confused due to their parent’s infighting and differences in opinions and never considered them as their role models. The directions coming from parents should be consistent but that was not the case. Mom wanted organized house and good grades in school but dad never cared for such things and involved children in making mess, like he did at Chris’ 12th birthday party shown at the beginning of the movie.

It comes down to focusing on what is the cause of the problem and what needs to be done to resolve it. Some assumptions that are related to this theory can include families normally related to one another in “patterned ways that are observable and predictable” (Linblad-Goldberg & Northey, 2013), most families have rules that each must follow and roles they are to play in the family unit, when they get off balance then dysfunction can and normally does occur. It is important that families have boundaries which include both inside and outside of the family. Families also have subsystems which can be based on either generation or genders.

This directly relates to my family dynamic I have on the team because without a cohesive team, we will not be successful. The ability to communicate problems and work past them is crucial if you want to accomplish common goals together. With heart and drive to win a match for something more than yourself gives you the extra determination needed to fight for your family and earn the hard wins. This goes against our common nature of having individualistic tendencies because we realize that we are competing hard for not only our own success but for the success of our family as well. Without sound communication, belief in one another, and love for your family or team one will not be able to conquer goals together and set the sights high for future

How many youth and high school coaches serve as a father figure to their players? How many mothers look to the coaches of their son’s football team as the last best hope to show their son what it means to become a man – a real man? More than we’ll ever know. Coaches teach us boys the lessons of life that very often they learn from no one else. Coaches have the kind of influence in our schools,

Although families may not always feel this connectedness, it is always there. The emotional climate of the family is interdependent of what is going on in the family as a whole. If one unit of the family is distant emotionally, it can have a great affect on the whole family. These attitudes are reciprocated throughout the entire family. It is important that most family members are able to stay healthy emotionally and have that ability to communicate their feelings to one another. Problems arise when individuals don’t fulfill their roles that are needed from all family members. Michael Kerr, explained this idea in an article he wrote to explain the family system theory. He explained that “heightened tension can intensify these processes that promote that promote unity and teamwork, and this can lead to problems” (Kerr,

Sadly, dealing with unreasonable, loud, obnoxious parents can be the most challenging part of coaching. Many coaches just want to make a difference in young lives instead of having to deal with the extra baggage of a high-strung parent. “If a parent does not like what you are doing as a coach, then there is no reason that parent can’t become a coach. One of the most difficult problems in coaching youth sports is dealing with an irate parent, but this problem can be diminished by holding parent meetings before and during the season.” (Put ‘Em In Coach, 33)

The family system theory is a theory developed by Doctor Murray Bowen. It is a theory of human behavior that holds the view that a family is an emotional unit. The family system theory also uses system thinking to explain the complex interactions that exist in the family unit. According to Bowen, people have a tendency to feel disconnected from their families now and then. However, the feeling is just a feeling and not a fact. Bowne also acknowledges that family members have the potential to affect and influence each other to the extent that they appear to have the same emotional dispensation. Family members seek attention, approval, and support from each other thus the existence of a form of interdependence. Bowen, while developing the family system theory, looked at how families develop patterns so as to diffuse anxiety. According to Bowen, too much closeness or too much distance can trigger feelings of anxiety in the family (Titelman, 2014). External stressors and sensitivities can affect the family’s ability to think and respond to relationship dilemmas.

When I consider family systems, I am reminded of a metaphor I heard while in undergraduate school about a mobile. A mobile is used to soothe an infant, normally placed above a crib or basinet. Each of its parts are in balance, when working correctly, however if one section becomes off balance the objects become out of sync. This is true with families. If each member of the family unit is doing their part, there is complete balance or homeostasis (Henson). This balance is viewed as a healthy family system. However, if one part of the unit becomes off balance, it disrupts the whole unit causing an unhealthy response with possible long term consequences. As families grow, each member plays an equally important role in the family unit. Children learn quickly the importance of relationships and adapt quickly to their environment. No one can deny the family unit is the most complex system in existence.

Jordan Tuggle (9), Kelsey Roberts (9), and Hunter Satterfield (10) practice their special choreography to “We Are Family” in the beginning Phoenix Voices class. Jordan admitted, “I love Mrs. Deana because I used to dance for her. I think that she is an amazing choreographer, but I have to admit that it can be a bit hard to sing and dance at the same time.” They have prepared to perform “We Are Family” at their choral concert in October.

The Bowen family systems theory can utilize to understand the Gillison’s family dynamics. According to the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family (2016) the Bowen family system theory views family as an emotional unit that utilizes systems thinking to comprehend the complexity of the interactions within the unit. The theory describes families as having a major influence on their member’s thoughts, feelings and actions, which leads them to feel as if they are composed of the same “emotional skin”. The members of families, according to this theory, are driven by each other’s attention, approval, and support. The members therefore, react to each other’s expectations and wants and needs. The family is therefore interdependent. One change in one member’s function leads to a change in the functioning of the others. This is evidence in the case of the Gillison family.

Group work and their related therapies are no easy task. As our text indicates “... dynamics of groups challenge even the most seasoned therapists (Chen,2004).” Thankfully there are tools to utilize; it is these tools that allow group counseling to do its work. Several theoretical approaches are outlined in our text. The focus of this paper will be on that of the Family Systems Theory.

In many ways family systems theory can be seen as a broad field where there many different implications that make up the system, it is a system. A system is a set of objects that are bound together by a relationship, which are based around the attributes of the objects as drawn upon by (Janet.BB, 1982). Family systems theory addresses the many different ideals and values that make up a typical family, these include the roles each member of the family, the power relations either from the male of the family or both parents of the family, the boundaries that are set within the family to ensure that the structure of the family is secure, in both individualistic and collectivist families this can be seen (Fred Rothbaum, 2002).

. Family systems theory is one of many theories that can be used to describe and analyze families. The family systems theory thinks of the family as a whole, not just as individuals. Individuals form a family system through their interaction and communication patterns. When something with an individual changes, it impacts the entire family. This theory emphasized interdependence among family members and says that problems should not be blamed on one individual, but should be looked at in terms of the family context. Individual components join together within a family system to form a whole. When a change occurs, the whole family must adapt to the new situation. This theory is a great way to look at families as a whole. There are seven descriptive features that define a family system which are: interdependence, wholeness, patterns/self-regulation, interactive complexity/punctuation, openness, complex relationships, and equifinality. Using these seven pieces, I will relate them to the family from Pieces of April and how that family uses or fails to use the features.

team goals and must be able to trust the other members of the team to do their job (Katzenbach