The scenario I picked is the first one, involving Mrs. W., who has traits of an alcoholic. Her mother is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Mrs. W.’s family has a history of alcoholism; Mrs. W’s husband is also an alcoholic. Mrs. W. has a history of struggling to control her drinking. This is not a good situation for their daughter, who is 6 years old. The daughter will see her parent’s out of control drinking, and it will mentally and emotionally affect her. I feel this family needs family therapy, along with individual therapy for both parents. Alcoholism effects the family as a unit, and every individual in the family. Per the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), “addiction has the power to destroy a family” …show more content…
The AAMFT also states that “it is often difficult to determine whether the problems a child is having are directly linked to parental alcoholism, separate, or a combination” (aamft.org). Therefore, my therapeutic approach with this family would be eclectic, taking from 3 different theories for the therapeutic experience: Bowenian family systems theory and therapy, reality therapy, and existential therapy. To begin the process of healing for this family, therapy is essential. The first ideal I would consider effective for this family would be the Bowenian theory about family systems therapy. There are 8 core concepts of his theory, with 2 anecdotes that relate to the theory. The core concepts are: differentiation of self from the family system, the emotional triangle (smallest stable relationship), family projection process (transmission of parents’ anxiety onto offspring), multigenerational transmission process (individuals seek out mates of the same differentiation level), emotional cutoff (distancing oneself family members increases anxiety levels), sibling position (sibling roles and birth order are vital in a family), societal …show more content…
Bowen also believed that there are patterns that can be identified throughout generations, related to the multigenerational transmission process. As it states in the scenario with Mrs. W, there is a family history of alcoholism, so I believe the Bowenian technique would be applicable. In another aspect of his theory, Bowen said the management of anxiety is a factor in everyone’s life. This may or may not be a contributing factor to the stress of Mrs. W’s family, but should be taken into consideration. Bowenian theory also has a good concept I would pay attention to: societal emotional process. This concept takes into brings up that outside effectors that may be producing anxiety in Mrs. W’s family; this may or may not be applicable. The final concept of Bowenian theory I would take into consideration is the nuclear family emotional process. This process tackles the idea that a “nuclear” family has problems in 4 areas: intimate partner conflict, problem behaviors in one partner, emotional distance, and impaired functionality in children. The last issue, impaired functionality in
The children would be overjoyed to work with their parents to make them better and have them live with them still. Some ethical dilemmas would be not to become too involved but you have to so that the family can trust you into helping them. You almost have to force the hand of the parents which is unethical you are not meant to force someone into getting help but if they don’t improve they are endangering the lives of their children. Another problem is getting the family to make changes again the children are willing to make those changes but the father is another problem. He has been through the whole cycle of change with drinking, he has stopped but then he has gone back and relapsed and it looks like every time he has relapsed he has gone deeper into drinking. Other challenges would be to find ways to get the family to actually attempt the intervention techniques that they would learn through the therapy or with working with the family. Another challenge would be finding a way to help the family pay for all this; it might be an ethical dilemma if wanting to provide these services, but not wanting to show them greater care than any other
In the article “Children of Alcoholics” produced by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the author explains the negative effect of parental alcoholism on their children’s emotional wellbeing, when he writes, “Children with alcoholic parents are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, antisocial behavior, relationship difficulties, behavioral problems, and/or alcohol abuse. One recent study finds that children of drug-abusing fathers have the worst mental health issues (Children of Alcoholics 1). Walls reflects upon her childhood experiences in which her father would become drunk and not be able to control his behavior, as she writes, “After working on the bottle for a while, Dad turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up Mom or anyone else who got in his way. When he’d had his fill of cussing and hollering and smashing things up, he’d collapse” (Walls 23). The Walls children, who frequently encounter their father’s abusive behavior, are affected mentally in the same way that national studies have shown. Jeanette Walls describes how, after drinking, her father’s behavior becomes cruel and intolerable through his use of profanity, threats, and angry, even violent, actions. In a conventional family, a parent has the responsibility of being a role model to influence their children in a positive way as they develop. Unfortunately, in the Walls family and other families with alcoholic parents, children are often subject to abuse and violence, which places them at risk, not only physically, but mentally. Rex’s irrational behavior when he is drunk is detrimental to the children’s upbringing, causing them to lose trust in their parents, have significantly lower self-esteem and confidence, and feel insecure. Rex’s behavior contributes to Jeanette’s
The strongest and most influential person who modeled alcohol use in my childhood was a male relative. I was not completely aware of many of these impacts until adolescence. As a child, I did not know what alcoholism was, I just assumed that the Beefeater Gin stench coming from my relative was his cologne. However, as I grew older and was exposed to a greater variety of people and circumstances, I slowly became aware of alcoholism. I began to incorporate the new experiences I had in relation to alcohol use with a deeper understanding of my extended family. This new awareness was unsettling and painful to me. Many of my relatives were alcoholics. There was never a family brunch, dinner, or casual gathering that was not centered around alcohol. The excessive and consistent reliance on alcohol fueled the arguments and shouting matches I witnessed between my male relatives. Their arguments were always laden with racist, sexi...
Structural therapy focuses on the family as a whole. It is concerned about how the issues effect the family relationships and connections. This theory concentrates on how well the understanding is amongst the family members and counselor. The members of the family are prompted to understand how the issues were created, where did the issues come from, when the issues started effecting their family, and what the family needs to overcome their issues. Its focus is to help others understand and improve negative behavior. The structural therapy concentrates on the interaction and boundaries of families with separating the whole family into smaller groups. The subsystems will create a clearer understanding of what issues are hurting their family environment (Gladding, S. T. 2010). The counselor is concerned about the members interaction because this reveals how strong the relationships and connections are in the home. The boundaries are important because they create an understanding that there are limits and order, and the boundaries can be diffused, rigid, or clear (Gladding, S. T. 2010). The counselor is expected to identify techniques so members can understand which boundaries are clear, positive, and healthy (Gladding, S. T. 2010).
One in five adults can identify with growing up with an alcoholic relative and Twenty-eight million Americans have one parent abusing or dependent on alcoholic (Walker, & Lee, 1998). There are devastating and ubiquitous effects of alcoholism, which vary from psychological, social, or biological problems for families. Counselor’s treating this problem all agree that the relationships within a family, especially between a parent and a child is one of the most influential within a system, but what are the effects on the family when a parent is an alcoholic? Contemporary research has found there is a higher prevalence of problems in the family when alcohol is the organizing principle. In addition, there is copious research on the roles of individuals within the family becoming defined into specific categories, and evidently, the roles may become reversed between the parent and the child. This topic of functional roles in alcoholic families will be analyzed and investigated further. Family therapy has had substantial results in the treatment of an alcoholic parent. These results will be discussed more along, with the literature examining the existing research related, to specific interventions and treatments in family therapy with an alcoholic parent. Before research on the treatment is illuminated on distinctive therapies, it is crucial for counselors facilitating family therapy to comprehend the literature on the presenting problems commonly, associated with alcoholic parents and the effects this population has on their families. Furthermore, the adverse outcomes an alcoholic parent has on their children and spouses has been researched and reviewed.
Within a family system, individuals were seen as a product of the family unit, rather than exclusions of the unit; this eliminated compulsions and obsessions in a family unit (Taylor, Asmundson, & Jang, 2011). Within family system therapy, the goal is to be capable of eliminating abnormalities in functions that affect all individuals and to treat or respond to the entire family; the goal is to also focus on the identified family member, reducing their extreme stress (Carr, 2000). The family system therapy searches for the balance between the independent individual performance and the function of the group (Taylor, Asmundson, & Jang,
Lastly, there is family therapy, and in my opinion the most important. This is essential for both the patient and members of their family to understand and learn how to cope with this behavior. This style of therapy will teach family members not to be co-dependent and allow the patient to take responsibility for their actions.
Mental health counselors must first assess the family’s problems. Assessment begins with a history of the presenting problem, which includes making notes of exact dates and checking them for their relationship to events in the extended family, becoming aware of the history of the family, including the history of the parents’ courtship, their marriage, and childrearing years (et, al., 2017, p77). The counselor must be aware of where the family has lived, the history of the spouse’s births, sibling positions, and significant parts of their childhood history, and the functionality of their parents, which should be recorded in a genogram covering at least 3 generations (et, al., 2017, p77). The mental health counselor also must always practice confidentiality, and cultural competence in dealing with
Intervention options include trauma focused substance abuse treatment and parenting with children present. Barriers to this plan include financial issues, maslows hierarchy of needs, if she is unable to keep housing then she will not be able to address psychological well-being. May need a mezzo intervention to ensure. Macro intervention to affordability and transportation etc. Affordability of quality care and transportation/price to travel. Progress will be evaluated through her maintained sobriety, and tracking of skills through the parenting program as well as a parenting stress index, scl 90-r, and
Goldenberg, H. & Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family therapy: An overview (8th ed.). Belmont CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Severe mood swings, violent rages, memory loss—each of these problems were a part of my family life during the past two or three years. These problems are the result of alcoholism. Recently, a member of my family realized his abuse of alcohol was a major problem to not only himself, but also to those around him. He would lose control of his temper and often would not even remember doing it the next day. Alcohol became a part of his daily life including work, home, and any other activities. His problem was that of a "hidden" and "high-society" alcoholism. When he was threatened with the loss of his job and the possibility of losing his family, this man knew it was time to get help. After he reached his lowest point, he took the first step towards recovery—admitting his problem.
According to Richard Charles (2001) “the effectiveness of family systems theory rests not much on empirical research but on clinical reports of positive treatment outcomes, the personal benefits experienced by the families that underwent this kind of treatment, and the elegance of Bowen’s theory” (p. 279). Bowen’s family systems theory views the family as an emotional unit and is a theory of human behavior. Systems thinking are used to describe the complex interactions in the unit. However, the client’s ability to differentiate himself/herself from the family of origin is the basis for Bowen’s family systems theory. In addition, the primary focus for growth within the emotional system is differentiation of self. Differentiation of self will be explored as well as how it relates to a church congregation.
Every single person in an addict’s immediate family is affected in some way by the individual’s substance abuse. In recent years, our society has moved further away from the traditional nuclear family. There are single-parent homes and blended family homes. Each of these family structures and more will affect the addict’s overall impact on the family. If young children are a part of the family, their
Because children are in the stage of development, they are considered to be the most susceptible to parental alcoholism (Park, Schepp, 2014, p. 1222). However, research showed that these children are very aware of the dangers of alcoholism (Hill, 2013, p.345). Although many of these children, studied by Hill (2013), preferred to purposefully limit any mention of alcohol abuse in their families, they showed great understanding of this problem. Children are actually troubled more about the effects parental alcoholism has on their family, for example they can associate alcoholism with the increase of disharmony between parents, and neglect from parent(s) (Hill, 2013, p.345). In a lot of these studies children were very selective of when to share their personal experiences, they were more likely to talk about their parents drinking problem if it was not present anymore or had decreased (Hill, 2013, p.347). These children shared their unwavering defense of their alcoholic parent, never really admitti...
...y therapy in the treatment of alcohol-related problems: A review of behavioural family therapy, family systems theraphy and treatment matching research. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, (17)3, 13-23.