As a marriage and family therapist, it is important to have a firm understanding of both who you are and your values. This concept, is ever present and most important during our training period. We start as individuals, with a passion that leads us to choose this career path and our own preconceived ideas about what it means to be a therapist. It is those preconceived notions or beliefs, that become assumptions and therapeutic viewpoints underlying our treatment methods. There are eight, beliefs and assumptions, in particular, that can contribute to what therapeutic model of treatment we choose to use in our sessions. Those beliefs and assumptions revolve around how people change, family dynamics, therapeutic roles, goal setting, ethical considerations, systemic functioning, context, and the therapeutic process itself. In this paper, I will be discussing both, my viewpoints in those areas and the therapeutic models of treatment they align with. Currently, the models that I identify most with are Bowiean and Cognitive – Behavioral. Method of Change/ Family Dynamics I believe that people are constantly being influenced by their past and the schemas it creates. This belief stems from my own personal ability to see how my past influences me today. For example, a personal issue that I struggle with, is trust and emotional cutoff. In the past, I used to offer my trust freely until it was broken, whether it was a small lie, or a significant deception, it didn’t matter. Once I perceived that trust as broken, I wouldn’t allow myself to trust that person again. This became a vicious cycle of me distancing myself from others. While I personally worked on this issue and can now acknowledge it, it still affects me. It’s a schema that I do, on occasion still initially feel and desire to pull away from others who have hurt me. I don’t think that will ever go away, however, now I able to look back on those past experiences and choose not to let them influence my decisions and actions. This ability to look back at our past and schemas, in some cases can be a key element to understanding ourselves. However, what can feel like a stable unchangeable element of ourselves is often actually ambiguous and in some cases, can be
The family system is founded on the notions that for change to occur in the life of an individual, the therapist must understand and work with the family as a whole. In working with the family, the therapist can understand how the individual in counseling functions within his family system and how the client’s behaviors connect to other people in the family. This theory also holds the perception that symptoms are a set of family habits and patterns passed down by generation and not a result of a psychological problem or an inability to change (Corey, 2017). Furthermore, the family system theory holds the idea that when a change occurs everyone in the unit is affected by the change.
The purpose of this paper is to review my professional identity as a Marriage and Family Therapist and to reflect on my developing beliefs within my selection of the counseling profession. My professional identity is beginning to be developed throughout my education with Liberty University. I will address the Marriage and Family Therapist professional counselor role and how this position differs from social workers, clinical psychologists, and professional counselors. By reviewing the differences in counseling positions, I will be able to express the differences from my previous experiences with pastoral counseling, and outline what my
For this assignment, two different theoretical approaches will be discussed, Bowenian family therapy and structural family therapy, and they will be used individually to construct a treatment plan to help clients reach their goals. Within each treatment plan discussed, short-term and long-term goals of therapy will be established and the family’s presenting problems will be defined. Two techniques that will be assigned to help them reach their therapeutic goals and any expected outcome from using those techniques will be discussed.
Strategic Therapy or Strategic Family Therapy is one of the oldest theories used in the practice of marriage and family therapy today. It was developed by Don Jackson and others affiliated to the Palo Alto group. Jay Haley and the Milan Group are also important practitioners of the model Strategic Therapy. This theory is portrayed as focused on altering family dynamics, eliminating problems and focusing on the presenting problems rather than the past, and often giving homework and behavioral tasks to clients. In this essay is a detailed description of the history of strategic therapy, beliefs, techniques and problems presented by this theory.
My first assumption of family therapy was to involve the parents and the individual that had the problem. This book explored further what it
I appreciated reading the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Code of Ethics article. This article increased my knowledge on the responsibilities a marriage and family therapist has to their patients, profession, the legal system, colleagues and themselves. I was intrigued to read that the practice of marriage and family therapy is considered an art and science and not only a “helping” profession (CAMFT (2011) Code of Ethics).
The purpose of this paper is to examine the field of marriage and family counseling beginning with the history and development of the profession and its importance in the field of counseling. This paper will also evaluate five major themes relevant to Marriage and Family Therapy which include: roles of Marriage and Family Therapists; licensure requirements and examinations; methods of supervision; client advocacy; multiculturalism and diversity. The author will discuss significant aspects to the field of Marriage and Family Therapy such as MFT identity, function, and ethics of the profession. This paper will assess biblical values in relation to Marriage and Family Therapists and to the field
Graduates with a Marriage and Family Therapist are trained mental health professionals who have a family-oriented perspective and treatment approach.
This paper will discuss developing beliefs and identity regarding marriage and family therapy. Over one’s life many beliefs are learned and become apart of who they are. These beliefs may be religious or just what they fell are right and wrong. These are the characteristics that will help or hinder them when it comes to being an effective counselor. Marriage and family therapist use psychotherapy to treat mental, emotional and interpersonal problems in the context of close relationships. Spiritual and or religious beliefs can also be incorporated into treatment. As a professional one must be aware not to impose personal beliefs into counseling.
therapy aims to improve family relations, and the family is encouraged to become a type of
A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. JAMES D. GIBSON FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR CO 5740 INTRODUCTION TO MARRIAGE AND FAMILY COUNSELING
Although various models for couples therapy differ on the means and approach to individual sessions, they do share a common core of themes regarding the utility and practicality of individual sessions as a component of couples therapy. These commonalities include assessing and ensuring safety, skill building, information gathering, and building therapeutic alliances.
Ethics and therapy are closely intertwined. It is important that healthcare professionals dealing in therapy adhere to strict professional standards and values that help define expectations and also prevent harm to those who seek therapy. Although the application of such values can sometimes be somewhat complicated when such therapists are dealing with individual clients, the complexity is even more heightened in the context of having multiple family members under therapy. Advancing conversations regarding values and marriage and family therapy is important to enable professionals grapple with the complexities of the topic as well as support their clients better.
Cognitive-behavioral family therapy provides many strengths for families. It also helps strengthen the relationship between couples that are married. Therapists treating couples who are married use strategies to improve the foundation of their marriage. In cognitive behavioral family therapy couples are taught to express themselves clearly and are taught new behaviors to improve communication and establish a solid union as partners. They are also taught strategies to solve marital problems and ways to maintain positive control. Toggle appreciable family therapy provides a number of treatment interventions for the family to improve their emotional regulation. An example of an intervention is the downward Arrow which helps families Express their feelings and the emotions behind them it allows them to express their emotions and understand them while projecting in a calm manner not leading to recrimination. Nichols 2014 says the greatest shape of behavior therapy is its insistence on its serving what happens and then measuring change 186. The goal of therapy is to help each family member recognize their distortions in thinking and improve and change their behaviors. A weakness of cognitive behavioral therapy is that the emotional state of a client may not be good even though their behavior changes. Nichols (2014) provides a good example of how a mother reports that her son is performing household chores however she feels as though her son does not really want to do the
As a marriage/family therapist who I view as a client has a significant impact on the therapeutic process (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). In the group, I expressed that my utmost concern with family therapy is determining who the client is. The group shared this concern as well, but others expressed that this only becomes a concern to them depending on various reasons, which reasons include, but are not limited to, the therapeutic approach use, presenting issues, and who initiated the counselling. I do not necessarily share this perspective. In my opinion, being a marriage/family therapist implies that I am counselling a family unit using the family systems perspectives and techniques in dealing with the presenting issues. The reason for my answer is based on the discussion regarding the ethical obligations and confidentiality consideration in being a marriage/family therapist. However, my group had a different take on this question and to my response. I am