Summary: Single Parent Alliances

Many participants engaged the group with stories of overcoming addiction or being sexually molested by family members as reasons behind their addiction. However all of their stories were compelling and empowering to the group of individuals who have seemed to endure some of the same sentiments as their fellow group mate. It appeared as if the individuals in the group even though that were court ordered appeared to be extremely engaged and very involved during the meetings. It seemed as though most who attended found peace and solice from the group during the NA meetings. As it stated by Krentzman, Robinson, Moore, et.al (2010), client’s state that their top two reasons for attending NA meetings were to promote recovery/ sobriety and to find support acceptance and friendships. One thing that I learned from the NA group that just as in AA, family support deems to be an important function on the perseverance of an addict and that the participation and involvement of family is detrimental in the treatment process for the addicts. In several of our readings many of the passages discussed the effects of family systems support as it pertains to substance abusers chemical addiction. The passages described the family system as being a detrimental part of the treatment process as well as for the treatment of the family as well. According to past studies, family involvement has aided clients in

Family Therapy can be implemented in a different ways in a program that provides a facet of services, but it’s imperative that the approaches used are appropriate for the individual or families utilizing services. Functional Family Therapy is used to help deal with substance abuse in families but can also be used to assist with behavioral issues in children. A well rounded family service program can not only use this one approach but utilize other approaches to meet the needs of the population being served. And while implementing the service ethics will play a major role in the therapy being providing.

To begin my intervention I need to gather information that will help me understand the family. Mrs. Mann, a 38 year old Hispanic mother of three children, Trig (10 yrs.), William (8 yrs.), and Sally (5yrs.) contacted the community behavioral health clinic after her son Trig was suspended from school for fighting. Mrs. Mann works part time as an office manager and is highly concerned for her son. Mrs. Mann shared that due to the physical abuse and alcohol addiction of her husband she demanded that he leave the house. Mr. Joe Mann left the house three months ago after the demands of his wife. This event has changed the structure of the family, creating stress and communication issues. Based on the information from Mrs. Mann my client, Trig,

More importantly, newer research has investigated the importance of family-based therapy for adolescents who practice drug abuse. Research by Liddle et al. suggests that multidimensional family therapy reduces substance abuse, delinquency, risks for future problems, and encourages the protective processes more than group treatments over the course of one year (21-22). Although previous research on family-based

·  Based on your review of the statistics in the study, do you agree with the study’s conclusions? Why or why not?

Single Parents Club (SPC) is a non-profit organization aimed at providing child care services for low income single parents. Single Parents Club recognizes that single parents often face multiple barriers while trying to successfully enter the workforce. Often time’s challenges such as a lack of affordable child care make it difficult for individuals to successfully enter into the workplace. The mission of this organization is to provide affordable child care will help ease a single parents burden.

One of the prominent aspects of SFT is that it can be implemented with a wide variety of client’s, presenting problems and can be patently integrated with other models to address different populations. Navarre (1998) states that SFT is a model that can be used to treat a wide variety of culturally diverse dysfunctional families. According to Navarre (1998) SFT is ideal when working with Chinese and vietnamese families due to the high levels of structure with clear generational boundaries and roles this culture holds. As stated by Navarre (1998) hispanic families such as Mexican-Americans and Cuban families hold characteristics that fit well with SFT; these cultures include extended family members, rely on authority/respect and discourage interactions outside of the family which adds stress to other family members. According to McNeil, Herschberger and Nedela (2013). SFT and community family therapy were integrated and said to be useful in addressing low-income families with adolescents involved in gangs. Although this model has not been adjusted to specifically address couples the same guidelines are used to treat couples effectively (Calapinto, 1991). The couples that are treated using SFT are looked at as another subsystem and their interactions with other family members.

Many generations may reside in one residence where there is a clear patriarchy (GCU, n.d.). Considering the importance that Latino/Hispanics place on familia and how central a person’s role within the family is to individual identity, it becomes painfully obvious how a family disease such as addiction can be especially devastating to their community. In an adult individual, it becomes a challenge to distinguish whether the addiction causes or results from the family disconnection (Flores, 2014, p. 28). The addicted person tends to be a product of family instability, dysfunctional family environment, and hostile parenting (p. 26), all of which is exacerbated and perpetuated by substance abuse. This cycle of sickness may have begun with the destructive effects of immigration on the original family and trickled into later generations. In 2006, studies indicated that, on a regular basis, 40% of Latino/Hispanic adolescents used alcohol, 24% smoked cigarettes, and 17% used marijuana (SAMHSA National Survey of Drug Use and Health results, cited by Wagner et al., 2010, p. 98). Flores reports that alcoholism rates seem highest within the Hispanic population of Mexican descent (cited by GCU). Unfortunately, heavily acculturated Latinos/Hispanics can be resistant to mental health treatment due to machismo, the fear of

Salvador Minuchin viewed joining a paramount precursor to familial change (Miuchin & Fishman, 1981). Given that the therapist is going to be in a position of shifting transactions between family members through the process of challenging current dynamics, the therapist needs to “earn his right to lead” (Miuchin & Fishman, 1981, p. 29). In structural family therapy model, “joining is letting the family know that the therapist understands them and is working with and for them” (Miuchin & Fishman, 1981, pp. 31-32). I am starting with joining because I believe this will the most important initial therapeutic intervention with the Maxson, as a young white female therapist given the amount of discrimination faced by family members, which is especially vocalized by Troy (Washington, Back, & Rudin, 2016). In joining, I must also pay attention to my own values regarding family role and respect the position of individual family members prior to shifting how parental decisions are made (Melito, 2003). I would first seek to understand the particular perspective and experience of each family member. It will also be during this part of treatment that I would start testing the hypotheses formulated upon initial contacts with the family (Minuchin, 1981).

Interventions that counselors can conduct when working with families of substance abusing adolescents, is family therapy because it can focus on a wide variety of problems. Other

-Shifting the family’s view of treatment from focusing on the adolescent as “the problem” to enhancement of family relationships as an important part of the solution.

Since Bobby is Hispanic, comes from a poor upbringing, did not finish his education, and is unable to hold a job as an adult; treatment must be dealt with according to his ethics and culture. Information found under the APA Guidelines, Policy Statements, and Resolutions the discussion of proper procedure in ethnic background treatment and diversity (APA, 2010). The recommendation of a Hispanic psychologist will only assist in allowing Bobby to open up to treatment. The cultural similarities will assist in Bobby understanding that his parent’s life style was not appropriate; and if he continues on the same path he will not change the cycle that has caused him so much pain. Any language difference would be more accommodated with a Hispanic psychologist (APA, 2010). At this time Bobby has been able to correspond on an pragmatic level of English that was understandable. The treatment plan laid out for Bobby under Research and Evaluation allows for civil commitment. This will give Bobby time to gain control of the substance abuse and take control of the trauma from his past. The Hispanic intervention will allow for a more comforting environment. This part is important because Bobby suffered from abuse and neglect from his parents (Zalta, et al., 2014). His desire was to please his mother, no matter her requests. Although he now understands that instead of his parent’s protection he was abused and left

We are very similar with some of the values and beliefs such as family, religion, trusting relationships or even resiliency, so I would like to add to your discussion concerning family with the Hispanics. Though many cultures value family relationships, many Hispanics emphasize and place a priority on family relationships (Forst & Lehman, 1997). Some identify strongly with and attach to their nuclear and extended families. Furthermore, for many, family relationships involve a strong sense of loyalty, solidarity, and reciprocity that is reflected in three ways: (1) feeling obliged to provide for the material and emotional support of family members; (2) relying on family for help and support; and (3) viewing family members as role models of behaviors and attitudes (Marín & Marín, 1991). I believe at sometime in this profession we will be faced with a dilemma that will challenge our social workers skills, so I would like to share what I found in research; sometimes social workers are confronted by problems for which there are no positive choices. Regardless of the option chosen by the client and /or the social worker, some harm will come to one person or another, perhaps even to the client (Dolgoff, Harrington, Loewenberg,

Results of this similar study by Toumbourou and Gregg (2002) demonstrate that “substance use was significantly reduced for students” (p. 281). In addition, these same adolescents reported higher levels of maternal care after the intervention than they had before; that is, being in a school where an intervention took place “almost doubled the odds of high maternal care” (Toumbourou & Gregg, 2002, p. 282). In this study, maternal care was associated with the attenuation of substance use (Toumbourou & Gregg, 2002). Further, there was a “high level of adherence to the PACE curriculum” (Toumbourou & Gregg, 2002, p. 279), indicating that caregivers of Glenville students will likely follow our program and show success in bettering their parenting skills and behaviors, as well as their relationships with their

The assessment can be re-administering at different points throughout the therapeutic relationship to monitor the effectiveness of individual and family interventions, can be used as an outcome measure in treatment effectiveness research, as well as a process measure in the areas of family interaction, adolescent development, and theoretical research (enter citation & additional reference including