The Family Crucible: a Systemic Approach Essay

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.

Facing transitions and dealing with dramatic change has a influencing aspect on family and personal relationships, through the text we see the dynamics of relationships and roles of family shift to meet the needs of each individual as they face the challenge of moving in to the world before them. the manner in which the various members of the Brennan family relate to each other, as well as the horrible

The family entered into therapy by believing that Claudia was their entire problem and that her actions alone were the root of their problem. As noted before, she was just the perceived problem. And in order for the parents to see that Claudia was only the perceived problem the therapists reversed the blame that the parents had projected on to their daughter. I believe this technique was most striking. Through the art of helping the family to view their situation differently, the therapists initiated change allowing the family to step outside their norm and see that their failure in marriage was affecting their parenting abilities. The therapists then gave Claudia meaning in reducing her feeling of failure and at the same time proposed the more serious problem that the parents had slowly began drifting away from each other.

Regarding the family unit, Friedman, Bowden and Jones (2003) states “This basic unit so strongly influences the development of an individual that it may determine the success or failure of that person’s life.” Due to the this influence it is vital to assess the family during the process of caring for a patient. Their environment, lifestyle and support system all have a tremendous effect on the healing process either good or bad. In this essay, the Hillard family from the movie Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) will be analyzed.

In The Family Crucible, Augustus Napier and Carl Whitaker’s form of therapy was strongly influenced by family systems theory, a burgeoning theory of the time. General systems theory examines relationships between elements that constitute a whole (Andreae, 2011, p. 243). When applied to families, this theory views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit (The

Stephanie Coontz in “The Way We Weren’t: The Myth and Reality of the Traditional Family” emphasizes that the traditional and ideal nuclear family widespread in media and textbooks are false and far from reality. In fact, it is common to see more similarities to the traditional family consistent of “male breadwinner and nurturing mother” (1) today than in the past.

All done within a serene setting, that is designed to be free of distractions, and whereas the therapist I will inspire all members to participate in the therapy, using the systemic processes will help to facilitate this goal. Using the Strategic Family therapy, I will use the two maps of human behavior, which is used to guide me during the healing session. The first is PUSH is the ellipsis, which will authorize my point of view as the therapist (M.U.S.E, 2010). .

In this story, it fascinated me when it made reference about the therapist needing to be transferable to the mother or father role in the family regardless of the therapist’s sex. In this case the clients are the traditional mother and father with two male co-therapists. Whitaker was seen taking on the maternal role when addressing Carolyn’s childhood and current issues with her mother while Napier observed the conversation. This was a great part of the book which portrayed isomorphism. This idea of being able to stay neutral as well as to identify with the role of mother or father adds another layer of complexity to help guide the context of the situation.

From a structural therapy perspective, it would be important to work on re/defining and restructuring the family so that it can operate in a more functional and healthy way. Clarifying and defining the boundaries between Nancy and her children, particularly Sarah, will be critical in trying to erode the enmeshment that is currently occurring. These treatment goals might be more difficult to achieve with Melanie and Amy considering they are currently living with their great grandmother; however, effort on the social workers part should still be made.

The following treatment plan will look at the Jarrett family, an upper-class family that struggles with the death of the oldest son, Buck. After the last harsh confrontation with her husband (Calvin), Beth decided to run away to Houston and leave the family. Without knowing if Beth wants to come back, Calvin and Conrad join therapy to face this delicate situation. By considering this information, our treatment plan will look at their family dynamics from three theoretical perspectives: Bowenian family therapy, Structural Family therapy, and Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy.

While reading The Family Crucible, the authors made it feel like I was watching a life-time television series. There were several high points and low points during the family therapy session that left me unsure of how the show would end. This book takes you on a journey using family counseling to help a family heal and communicate better with one another. I thought it was interesting how this systematic therapy took place in a time where therapy was looked at as taboo. Many times in that era family therapy was not an option. The main focus was on the family member with the issue and not on the parents or other family members. In the book the authors used different theories and approaches during the counseling sessions which were quite interesting. This process after time enabled the family to look at the journey they were on in order to understand how the family, as a whole, should function.

In this paper I will be describing how the first two session of the Brice family went. I will talk about what systems approach to therapy was used, and will include how Whitaker and Napier conceptualized the family’s difficulties. I will also describe how this differs from an individual understanding, and will talk about what specific interventions they used to support their systemic understanding of this family.

Haley and Madanes’ approach to strategic family therapy argues that change occurs through the process of the family carrying out assignments issued by the therapist. As described in Madanes’ Strategic Family Therapy (1981), “strategic therapists attempt to design a therapeutic strategy for each specific problem.” Therapists issue directives that are designed to shift the framework of the family to resolve the displaying problem. Treatment of these issues would include intense involvement, carefully planned interventions designed to reach clear goals, frequent use of therapist-generated directives or assignments, and paradoxical procedures.

The family is made up of five people: Claudia, the IP; Carolyn, mother; Laura, the sister; Don, the brother; and David, the father. The family is coming into therapy because there have been mounting concerns about Claudia and her behavior—acting out, staying out late, some fairly typical teenage stuff. For the purpose of this paper, I will be starting at the beginning where the family is first coming into therapy. I will first school that I will apply is Structural Family Therapy and the second school is Bowen Family Therapy.

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