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Cognitive behavioral therapy example
Family system therapy by Virginia Satir
Strengths and weaknesses of family system therapy
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Integrating Family Systems and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Philosophy and Techniques Introduction: Which theories did you select and why? The theories I choose to outline in my integrative approach to counseling, are Cognitive Behavior therapy, and Family Systems Therapy. I choose both of these theories, because throughout the semester, I found these two to be the most interesting, and I was able to relate to them the most. The Family Systems Therapy matches well with my personality, because I believe that the family a person was raised with, or lives with really does helps the therapist full understand their client. For example, there’s a lot of problems I face in current life, it’s because of what I grew up around as a child. Also, some …show more content…
According to Schultz (1984), “The structural family therapist functions as a boundary-maker whose job is to make clear subsystem boundaries”. “The structural family therapist makes new boundaries by reorganizing the family’s behavior in the therapy session itself” (p.83). Schultz is explaining the role of the therapist, and he’s stating that the therapist is the person that sets boundaries, and makes a clear path through therapy to give everyone a chance to properly explain themselves, and the therapist will be able to find a solution to the problem. Corey states (2012), “attempts at change are best facilitated by working with and considering the family or set of relationships as a whole. Therefore, a treatment approach that comprehensively addresses the family as well as the “identified” client is required. Because a family is an interactional unit, it has its own set of unique traits. It is not possible to accurately assess an individual’s concern without observing the interaction of the other family members, as well as the broader contexts in which the person and the family live”. Techniques: What techniques would you be likely to
The CBT theoretical formulation focuses on the whole family. “As behavior therapist shifted their attention from individuals to family relationships, they came to rely on Thibaut and Kelley’s theory of social exchange, according to which people strive to maximize rewards and minimize costs in relationships” (Nichols,
A systems based treatment plan is necessary when working with this family and a systemic assessment is needed to accomplish this. “A systemic assessment will typically reveal that marital and/or parenting issues are contributing to the presenting problem” (Gehart, p. 37, 2016). The therapist will start by using a genogram. A genogram was used to analyze the Andersen family, as it is a structured way of collecting information about the family. It allows the therapist to gather details and “identifies not only problematic intergenerational patterns, but also alternate ways for relating and handling problems” (Gehart, 2014, p. 237). A genogram is a visual representation of the family and their history that will display
The objective of structural family therapy for this family would be to improve the functionality of the family system and restore the structured family system with development (Collins, Jordan, & Coleman, 2010). Additionally, since the family dynamics are somewhat different since the father is away often and the girls were younger when the family dysfunction initiated, it may be appropriate to work on boundaries in therapy. McAdams, et al.(2016) found that “foundational structural principles of family hierarchy, system and subsystem boundaries, and member alliances all continue to play a central role in current applications of the structural model, and the assessment criteria applied most recently to structural family therapy process and outcome research are likewise grounded in those structural principles” (McAdams, et al.,
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).
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.
Napier provides a crucial exploration of the therapy of a family struggling with battles for the structure of their family and battles to define and grow their relationships with one another. Napier and Whitaker seamlessly and purposely work with each family member, educating and
Experiential family therapy is one that believes the root cause of the problems in the families is a result of emotional suppression. This theory is focused on freedom experiencing emotions in the here-and-now. Experiential family therapists believe clients should seek self-fulfillment and focus on individual’s roles in the family rather than on the family as a whole. In order to promote growth, the individual and family must both grow. Once families are emotionally healthy, healthy attachments can then be made. I am drawn to this approach because of its focus on the individual. I believe that if individuals are healthy, family roles will become clearer and the system as a whole will become healthier. It is similar to when a spoiled piece of fruit makes it into a fruit salad, the entire salad is then ruined; however, if the entire salad is healthy, everyone will enjoy it. (Nichols, 2014, p. 130-132)
In the industrial age before World War II, when individual psychotherapy was born and thrived, human beings were essentially seen as machines, with broken parts—including the mind—that could be repaired; after World War II, the dawning information technology age brought a paradigm shift in the view of human life from mechanical to relational, and communication and systems theories provided family therapy with increased validity and prominence. (White, 2009, pp. 200-201). The modern family systems theories that grew out of this paradigm viewed families narrowly as functional or dysfunctional according to the delineation of each theory. Today, postmodern theory suggests that no absolute truth governs individuals or families; instead, people are
Structural Family Therapy offers a framework that provides order and meaning within the family connections (Nichols, 2013). Divorce for a family is considered a significant transition for all parties involved. When counseling a family going through divorce the structural family therapist’s job is to build an alliance with the family and obtain information about the structure. The structure of the family consists of the roles, interactions, organization, and hierarchy. Family therapy yields the belief that changing the organization of the family leads to change in the individual members. The structural family therapist often will try to become part of the family to gain a perspective of their issues as whole so not to place the focus on one individual. Joining is an empathetic approach in helping families explain and break down their individual stories without uncomfortable challenge or unnecessary confrontation (Nichols, 2013). It is important to note that family dysfunction that often leads to divorce is not attributed to one individual, but the entire family system. In structural family therapy, part of dealing with the issue of divorce in the family is to focus on the interactions between all the family members both positive and negative. Through these interactions the therapist can discover where the conflicts arise, which will in turn help the therapist understand how these negative interaction affect the family. Family therapy in these cases allows for repair of long-standing interactional patterns in which divorce is just one of a series of ongoing transactions that are disruptive to the child’s development (Kaplan, 1977, p.75). The structural family therapist often has the family play out these family interactions via enactments so that he can get a firsthand look at maladaptive patterns, roles, and
Duty, G. (2010, December 10). Family Systems Therapy. Lecture presented at Principles of Counseling Class Notes, Bethany.
I enjoyed reading your post. Weakness regarding the structural family therapy approach is that yet focuses on the family being a whole and a nuclear family; it fails to incorporate other factors such as blended families or extended families and how it will work with this approach considering subsystems and
My theoretical approach to family therapy is very integrative as I believe families cannot be described nor treated from a single-school approach. I view humans through a humanistic and existential lens but am more technically structural and solution-based. With this integrative approach, I believe I will be the most effective in helping families grow and reach their goals.
Each member of my family have to feel like the therapist is working with them if not change will not occur. The use of family mapping will help distinguish the types of boundaries that exist among my family. With the disengagement within my family subsystems, using the enactment technique will illustrate the interaction among family members. I am close to the siblings that I grew up with and my father his siblings were very close. With that being said, I will like to see the dynamic between my aunts and uncles when they are all in the same room together after years of being apart. I chose structural family therapy because at the end of the therapy session, I want the restructuring of my family structure.
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 is 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.
Lester is entrenched in his beliefs that he is a loser and his wife and daughter contribute to his beliefs with their current state of hostile communication. In sessions it will be important that as the therapist that it does not appear that I am aligning with any particular family member as I work to draw out their strengths. Additionally, it may be difficult for the family members to identify strength-based goals that apply to the family as a whole, as opposed to goals that infer an individual needs to change. Lastly, one drawback of this process can be with the therapist. The intention of a strength-based perspective in therapy is to not mollify our dialogues, but to find respectful ways of having difficult conversations about family members (Zie,