Summary of Readings
Almeida et al.
In their book, Almeida, Dolan-Del, & Parker (2008) describe the idea of critical consciousness and how it brings “sociopolitical context” to daily life. “A client who develops critical consciousness may learn that her depression is not exclusively a medical illness driven by organic factors she cannot change” (Almeida et al., 2008, p. 22). This was in the beginning of the chapter and began to explain the difference between a therapy model versus the strictly medical model. This chapter highlighted elements of critical consciousness and how it plays into therapy, which I found to be very enlightening to begin the development of discovering my social context.
The concept of critical consciousness focuses on social class, political power, gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and physical ability. (Almeida et al, 2008, p. 24) Allowing for this “platform” to be diverse and all inclusive creates a family therapy model that “incorporates social justice.” When clinicians develop their critical consciousness, it is one of many steps “toward building more just relationships for all involved parties.” A critically conscious therapist has the ability to push his or her clients in the direction of liberation when the clients feel like they are powerless. Almeida et al. goes into the intervention of having client(s) view films that depict similar, or vastly different, lifestyles and social contexts than their own.
Another intervention detailed is how the first session should proceed. “A first session may be structured by asking questions that raise arenas of power and privilege for discussion and analysis” (Almeida et al., 2008, p. 28). The specifics derived from this question-an...
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...ts. For some reason, my partner is more likely to accommodate me than I accommodate him. This is not due to any lack of desire to accommodate but rather out of impulse on his part. I do not think this then turns into a power differential or negatively impacts the relationship. This relationship is one I am very grateful for since it is one of the easier in my life due to the fulfilling togetherness and lack of excess work from either member.
Works Cited
Almeida, R. V., Dolan-Del, V. K., & Parker, L. (2008). Transformative family therapy: Just families in a just society. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Knudson-Martin, C., & Mahoney, A. R. (2009). Couples, gender, and power: Creating change in intimate relationships. New York: Springer.
Tatum, B. (2003). Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: Revised Edition. New York: Basic Books.
In Dalton Conley’s memoir “Honky”, written in 2000, Conley talks about his experience of switching schools to a primarily white elementary school. He discusses the major differences between his prior, very diverse school and his new, primarily caucasian school. He focuses on the main topics of race and class, and how they enhanced the differences between these two schools.
Experiential Family Therapy is a therapy that encourages patients to address subconscious issues through actions, and role playing. It is a treatment that is used for a group of people in order to determine the source of problem in the family (Gurman and Kniskern, 2014). Experiential Family Therapy has its strengths and weaknesses. One of the strengths of this therapy is that, it focuses on the present and patients are able to express their emotions on what is happening to them presently. The client will have time to share everything about his/her life experiences one on one without any fears. As a result, it helps the client in the healing process because, he/she is able to express their feelings freely and come out of the problem. Therefore, in this type of therapy, the clients are deeply involved in solving their issues. It helps clients to scrutinize their individual connections and to initiate a self-discovery through therapy, on how their relationships influence their current behaviors (Gurman and Kniskern, 2014). By examining their personal relationships through experiential family therapy, family members are able to
For Bowen, the family is the unit of observation and the emphasis is put on emotional forces that are common to all families, this helps to reduce the significance of which family member is causing the problem. Bowens approach to change is understood within the context of striving to understand life’s forces, the very principal that gives coherence to Bowens approach to therapy. (Friedman, 1991). When attempting to achieve change within a client the source of the issue is less important, but rather trying to locate the systematic forces within a family as well as those that are transmitted from generation...
Analysis of Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
People of different ethnic backgrounds are influenced by both cultural and societal normalities to want to naturally return to their own ethnic groups. In Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book “Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum tries to explain why in even racially diverse schools, people of the same race tend to gravitate toward one another causing racial separation. Tatum claims that people of the same race, particularly black kids, are likely to turn toward people who understand their shared perspective. Although Tatum effectively uses a conversational tone and emotionally charged words, her overuse of biased interviews and experiences forces the reader to question the validity of her portrayal of race relations.
Tatum’s book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” (1997) analyses the development of racial identity and the influence of racism in American’s culture. She emphasizes the Black-White interactions by comparing the terminology in which racism perceived based on David Wellman’s definition of racism. Tatum also believes racism is not one person in particular but is a cultural situation in which ethnicity assigns some groups significantly privileged compared to others. She illustrates how engaging children in terms of interracial understanding will empower them to respond to racial stereotypes and systems of discrimination.
Szapocznik, J., Schwartz, S. J., Muir, J. A., & Brown, C. H. (2012). Brief strategic family therapy. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 1(2), 134–145.
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,
The book “why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria”, written by Beverly Daniels Tatum, Ph.D., Adresses the situation of racism and how it effects everyone blacks and whites. This Book was intended to inform adults. Adults do not tend to educate their children of the facts of racism and the seriousness of it. Sometimes adults are scared they might create a problem rather then to fix it. Beverly wrote this book to educate educators that way they can better teach or train. In certain situations kids don't understand or know how to react because they have not been told the truth on what was happening. The impact of racism begins early. She uses her own circumstances to connect with her audience using ways that she had to deal with certain racial
Warren Farrell is a well educated man who focuses his attention on gender. In his essay “Men as Success Objects,” he writes about gender roles in male-female relationships. He begins, “for thousands of years, marriages were about economic security and survival” (Farrell 185). The key word in that statement is were. This implies the fact that marriage has changed in the last century. He relates the fact that post 1950s, marriage was more about what the male and female were getting out of the relationship rather than just the security of being married. Divorce rates grew and added to the tension of which gender held the supremacy and which role the individuals were supposed to accept. “Inequality in the workplace” covered up all of the conflicts involved with the “inequality in the homeplace”(Farrell). Farrell brings to attention all ...
For years, women have had to fight for voting rights, equal pay, and equal work opportunities. What this suggests, is that women have had to prove themselves to be accepted. Through the use of two interviews, the role of gender and power in love relationships was examined. The first interviewee, Monica Robles, is a 33-year-old, married woman and a mother of two. Monica describes herself a family oriented, powerful, independent, ambitious woman. She is a Relationship Banker at Bank of America, where she advises and guides highly valued customers with their financial needs. The second interviewee, Leonel Mendoza, is a 25-year-old married male, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran, and is currently an aircraft mechanic. Therefore, based on the two
Duty, G. (2010, December 10). Family Systems Therapy. Lecture presented at Principles of Counseling Class Notes, Bethany.
When segregation in schools was abolished in the 1950’s, the African American community surely did not anticipate any outcome that wasn’t positive. This is not to say that American schools should remain segregated, however, the sudden shift in the societal structure caused an imbalance in, what was intended to be, an equal opportunity classroom.
Nichols, M. P. (2010). Family therapy concepts and methods (9 ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Renzetti, C. M., Curran, D. J., & Maier, S. L. (2012). Women, men, and society. Boston: Pearson.