Family Therapy Interview Paper

A family of four came into counseling. Frank, 43, who works so much. Emily, 39, who is a mom that works from home part-time. Two daughters, Sarah (10 years old) and Whitney (6 years old). One night, Frank came home from work, and Emily called a family meeting. Sarah has decided that she would like to have a little brother because a friend of Sarah’s is going to have a little brother. Sarah spoke with Emily about how much she would love a little brother. After thinking about it, Emily decided to speak with her husband about having another baby. Frank did not seem like he wanted another baby at his age, and was thinking about doing a little traveling now that the kids are getting a little older. Frank has been leaving town a lot more, causing

In 2013, I graduated from Mount Olive College with a Bachelor of Science is Clinical Psychology. As an undergraduate I did my internship with the state of North Carolina – Vocational Rehabilitation at WorkSource East in Goldsboro, NC. I am currently in a counseling training program at East Carolina University where I am working on obtaining my Master’s in Substance Abuse and Clinical Counseling.

A sixteen year old teenager refuses to leave home and the therapist must review the situation from a MRI therapeutic approach. First, the MRI approach would not focus on the problem or how it developed but rather what efforts have the parent made to reach a resolution. MRI stems from the premise that families use practical attempts at resolving their situation but the attempts are ill-advised. MRI’s main focus is aimed at dilemma driven solutions; there is no advantage in long term change or what capacity the problem serves within the family.

According to a study by the Migration Policy Institute, approximately 41.3 million immigrants were living in the United States in 2013, an all-time high for a nation historically built on immigration. Immigrants accounted for 13 percent of the total 316 million U.S. residents and adding the U.S.-born children of immigrants means that approximately 80 million people, or one-quarter of the overall U.S. population, is either of the first or second generation (Zong, Batalova).

The most important core value for this case to me is cultural competence. The National Association of Social Worker’s (NASW) describes the importance as cultural competence for a Social Worker to develop “a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients’ cultures and to differences among people and cultural groups” (2008). This really seems to be key to this case because the school seems to have Heterosexist values, Heterosexism is having prejudices against those that do not fill the heterosexual norm(Burn, Kadlec, & Rexer, 2005). These values tend to have effect on not only the individuals that may be homosexual, but their greater family system. Often heterosexism can increase psychosocial stress for both the family and the individual. This is extremely common and can even be done through anti-homosexual language such as the things Miranda has over heard.

They are on a regular diet with few restrictions on fried foods and fat intake. The children eat school lunch and the parents from outside restaurant choices. Mom tries to cook a meal a day after work or they seldom eat Subway or Pizza Hut. No variation in weight gain or weight loss reported. They try to eat dinner as a family at home on a regular basis. However, this was not feasible all of the time due to dad’s late night work hours and CH basketball practices after school. They generally get 6-7 hours of sleep per night and denied any sleep deprivation. No exercise program has been implemented by this family. CH is the only physically, athletic member. DH stated that he likes to ride his bike. The children are active in Sunday school and participate in summer camp.

I first knew that I wanted to be a counselor as a child. No one in particular inspired me to want to be a counselor, but I do feel that I chose marriage and family therapy due to the issues that my family has or had and never thought to seek counsel. There are many families out there that have issues but do not believe in therapy. My own parents do not see the usefulness of as they say, going to sit on someone’s couch and pay them to listen to your problems. As a child I can recall sometimes thinking if I just had someone to talk to that would understand. That is why I chose to become a marriage and family therapist, to help all the people that want help.

After interviewing 3 professionals in different areas, I noticed more similarities than differences. All of these professionals have included the patient and their family members in the assessment and treatment process. According to the mental health counselor, she gathers information from the client’s family because it is crucial to their healing process. The special education teacher attends IEP meetings in which the parent can attend and provide information to help with the child’s success. Additionally, the nurse includes the client’s significant other when providing care.

Structural family therapy is a model of treatment based on systems theory that was developed by Salvador Minuchin. Structural family therapy features emphasis is mostly on structural change as the main goal of therapy; it pays close attention to the individual but also acknowledges the importance of family in the healing process of the individual.

Systemic therapy was based on Minuchin’s Structural Therapy model (1968) followed by Bateson's cybernetic model (1972) The first order cybernetic model considerd that problems within a family system should be focused on by strategically solving problems, meeting family goals and help change a person's dysfunctional behaviour. D Shazer (1985). These concepts in Systemic therapy were known as the major paradigms and were taught by therapists such as Minuchin in Milan until the information-processing systems were introduced. They were characterized by the therapist's observation of the system from the external social world. Minuchin S & Fisherman,HC (1981)

During my parent interview many of the parents had a different idea of what was stimulating for their child. All the parents, however, realized the importance of stimulating their child during play especially as an infant. The parent’s children ranged from six months to 5 years old (Derryberry, Boster, & Lashae, 2015). This also shows that the parent can have varying opinion based on what their child needs in that particular developmental period. All the parents were extremely concerned with what the child was getting out of play. They also agreed anything educational always was better than what the child in question may want. I think that especially come into play for toddlers, because they are trying to interact with the environment even in stores.

Nurses interact with families in a variety of community-based and clinical settings. The family nursing process is the same, regardless of the setting or whether the focus is on the family as a whole or on an individual in that family (Crisp & Taylor 2005). In the case of a 3 year old girl just diagnosed with leukaemia, it is important for a nurse to critically analyse the situation and address any immediate concerns. The nurse must address any professional issues that may arise and any potential impacts of hospitalisation that may affect the child and the family. Also provide support and education to reassure and comfort them. The primary concern for paediatric nurses is the welfare of the child and the family (Crisp & Taylor 2005).

The history of family therapy began around 1960, when Gregory Bateson coined the term, “system thinking.” This type of therapy was a daring departure, both technically and philosophically, from traditional and individual treatment during the 1960s. Gregory Bateson was inspired. He felt that the unit known, as “the family” needed to be celebrated and that is exactly what he did” (Family Therapy, 2010, Para 1) Along with Gregory Bateson, are a list of several others who contributed to the evolution of Marriage and family counseling. This list includes the founder of social work, Mary Richmond, Mr. W. James, who researched the organic expression of social systems intervention and Mr. J. Dewey. Each of these

My family health assessment was conducted using the 11 Gordon functional health pattern. Marjorie Gordon’s functional health pattern is a guide for establishing a comprehensive nursing date base, using the 11 categories enable nurses determines the following aspects of health and human function (Gordon 1987). The Gordon 11 functional health patterns are health perception/health management, nutrition, elimination, activity/exercise, cognitive, sleep/rest, self perception/self concept, roles and relationships, sexuality and reproduction, coping and stress tolerance, values and belief. This paper will summarize the findings of each health pattern as well as the family based nursing

In the role play, I am an elderly South Asian immigrant grandparent (Baba – in this role play) with significant medical problems, arrived in Canada just two months ago. His wife passed away six months back, mentally disturbed and hoping to have some emotional support from his only son who migrated to Canada 16 years back. Baba is also sick, needs to consult a doctor and looking for a quite corner in the apartment where he can live without any disturbances.