The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

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The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

Abstract

The Smith family case involves a family of four – Maria (wife), Peter (husband) and two sons (John and Mark). Maria complains of feeling used by her husband and sons, and exhibits stress related symptoms. She is on prescription Lisinipril for a high blood pressure diagnosis. She has a family history of domestic violence and victimization, accuses her husband of infidelity and feels that he is likely to abandon her, and feels that her children have abandoned her as they have gone to college and ignored her problems. Peter is cheating on his wife but does not intend to divorce her. John and Mark are busy with college and spend less time at home. An assessment of Maria’s condition reveals that she is irritable, nervous, fatigued, restless, and worried, leading to a generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis. In addition, she feels sad, tearful and hopeless, thus supporting an adjustment disorder with depressed mood diagnosis. Experiential therapeutic approach is deemed appropriate for the family as it immerses them in a targeted experience with emphasis on action through providing psychological elements and engaging them in actions that act as precursors for change. An assessment of the family members reveals that Maria is a placating communicator while her husband and two sons are computing communicators. The family therapy makes use of psychodrama that explores the family issues through dramatic actions while incorporating family dynamics and role-plays to help the family gain a better perspective on the conflicts, emotional concerns, or other areas of difficulty within a trusted, safe environment. The family therapy is grounded in the principles of role theory, group/family dynamics, sociometry, spontaneity and creativity, psychodrama evokes behavioral, emotional and cognitive responses that help the family members to achieve new perspectives. Overall, the therapy would help the Smith family develop the use of perspective and language to explore their experiences from an outside perspective that presents a safe environment from with to develop new solutions. The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

Family Therapy Writing Assignment

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Family Interview and Assessment

The case is for Smith family. Maria is a 47-year-old female who is married to a 52-year-old man. She has been married for 25 years and has two sons with her husband. She co-manages the family business with her husband. She is a Catholic-Christian of Latino/Hispanic ethnicity and has high proficiency in Hispanic and English languages. Her general practitioner referred Maria and her family for psychiatric care with stress related concerns.

Maria reports that she feels used by her husband and sons. She is particularly critical of her husband who has been engaging in extramarital affairs using the money from the business that they jointly built over the last 20 years. She is also critical of her sons who have largely ignored her unless they want money or help from her. Maria states: “I feel used by my family … my husband whom I thought would be with me for the rest of my life is slowly drifting away. I have given him the best years of my life and now he feels that I no longer have any use and a younger woman would be preferable. Besides that, my two sons whom I raised with much care have not been much help and have similarly ignored my problems. They have moved to college and ach of them is busy with their own stuff and ignore what is disturbing me at home.” She reports that her two sons only talk to her when they have issues and need her help. In addition, her husband mostly ignores her unless there are to talk about business issues. The state of affairs has caused Maria to exhibit stress related symptoms. Her general practitioner is concerned about the impact of the stress on her overall health.

Peter (Maria’s husband) is an orphan who grew up in foster homes and has no known relatives outside of his immediate family. He indicates that although he does not deny the cheating, he does not intend to divorce his wife. He states that his wife has been very difficult to deal with since their two sons went to college. She has been spending more time at work and ignoring him at home.

The two sons (John and Mark) indicate that they have not ignored their mother. Rather, they have busy college schedules and have been spending a lot of time and energy on the course programs. The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

A review of Maria’s past psychiatric history reveals that she has not had any psychiatric concerns although she attended grief therapy sessions more than a decade ago following the death of her parents in a plane crash. A check of her medical history reveals a high blood pressure diagnosis one year ago for which she is currently on prescription Lisinipril to manage the condition. A review of her substance use history reveals that she occasionally drinks alcohol in social occasions such as family gatherings and business meetings. On average, she takes three glasses of wine every week. She experimented with marijuana and cocaine as a teenager, and has not taken any ‘drugs’ since she got married. She does not have any known developmental issues. Raised in El Paso, Texas, Maria describes her parents as alcoholics who were physically abusive and neglectful. She has two older brothers: one is committed to a psychiatric facility receiving treatment for depression while there other brother is a veteran and receiving treatment for PTSD. She has a good relationship with her siblings and talks to them at least once every week.

A mental status exam reveals that Maria has an appropriate general appearance, dressing, affect, thought content, and interview behavior. She has good insight, judgment, attention, and concentration. She has normal speech, and unremarkable motor activity, perception, and flow of thought. She has euthymic mood and has X3 orientation: is oriented to person, place and time.

Clinical Hypothesis

The diagnosis for Maria is generalized anxiety disorder (F41.1). She is irritable, nervous, fatigued, restless, and worried; all symptoms that support the diagnosis. The differential diagnosis is adjustment disorder with depressed mood (F43.21). She feels sad, tearful and hopeless; symptoms that support this diagnosis (Schaffer & Rodolfa, 2018). The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

Disturbances in the family functioning have been associated with Maria’s condition, revealing that there are underlying causal factors for the stress condition affecting Maria. First, she has a family history of domestic violence and victimization, situations that increase her risk for developing the stress condition. Second, she accuses her husband of infidelity and feels that he is likely to abandon her. Third, she feels that her children have abandoned her as they have gone to college and ignored her problems. Considering the three identified factors, her greatest concern appears to be her husband’s infidelity and the belief that he is likely to leave her for a younger woman. The hypothesis for Maria is that anxiety over her husband’s infidelity and possibility of leaving her is responsible for her generalized anxiety disorder and adjustment disorder with depressed mood (Koesterman, 2021).

Therapeutic Approach

Experiential therapeutic approach is appropriate for the case. This approach immerses the family in a targeted experience with emphasis on action. In this case, the family members have access to psychological elements through being engaged in actions that act as precursors for change. The expectation is that by acting in a new way, the family members can think in new ways. Pioneered by Virginia Satir, Leslie Greenberg, Sue Johnson, Carl Whitaker, among others, the experiential therapeutic approach revolves around two elements: family life chronology that focuses on understanding the developmental patterns of relationships in the family; and family reconstruction that focuses on guiding the family through a process of engaging positive change (McWey, 2020).

This approach concedes that communication within the family can determine what types of relationships can be developed. In this case, five conceptual styles of communication are modelled: placating, blaming, computing (super-reasonable), distracting (irrelevant), and congruent communicators. First, placating communicators act as self-effacing pleasers. Second, blaming communicators are self-righteous and typically accuse others. Third, computing communicators are emotionally detached and rigidly intellectual. Fourth, distracting communicators are unfocused and seemingly unable to relate to what is actually being communicated or going on in the family. Fifth, congruent communicators are articulate, seem genuine, responsible and expressive in the appropriate context (Lebow, Chambers & Breunlin, 2019). The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

A review of the present case reveals that Maria is a placating communicator while her husband and two sons are computing communicators. Applying the experiential therapeutic approach will allow the family to explore, acknowledge and modify their communication patters. This will occur through allowing the family members to experience past events in the present time while shifting from negative energy to positive energy. In experiencing the positive and negative energies, the family will have an energetic shift towards the desired direction. The therapy will provide positive direction that focuses on hope, growth and health, through helping the family members to connect with positive energies and experience the peace and happiness believed to result from positive connections. In addition, the approach is systematic in addressing the interactive and intrapsychic systems such that positive changes in one system are linked to positive changes in the other system. Besides that, the approach focuses on congruence by getting the family members to be actively engaged in genuine and caring relationships (Lebow, Chambers & Breunlin, 2019).

The experiential approach relates back to negative family experiences and seeks to address the effects of these experiences by helping the family members to achieve change and growth in order to heal. The approach will assist the family members as they work to achieve maximum personal growth even as the therapist helps them in developing awareness, strength and courage to overcome inhibitions, while increasing understanding of self and living in the present moment. Furthermore, this approach will strengthen the interpersonal relationships between the family members, and foster development of healthy and balanced relationships through the process of self-actualization (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2021).

The specific intervention is psychodrama, an experiential form of therapy that explores the family issues through dramatic actions. It will make use of soliloquy (relate inner feelings and thoughts to audience), doubling (adopt protagonist movements and behavior to build sympathy), mirroring (become observers while others act out), and role reversal (step out of own role and enact role of other person) techniques (Giacomucci, 2021). The intervention (psychodrama) incorporates family dynamics and role-playing to help the family members gain a better perspective on the conflicts, emotional concerns, or other areas of difficulty within a trusted, safe environment. It (psychodrama) is particularly beneficial for developing emotional wellbeing, and behavioral and cognitive skills (von Ameln & Becker-Ebel, 2020).

Grounded in the principles of role theory, group/family dynamics, sociometry, spontaneity and creativity, psychodrama evokes behavioral, emotional and cognitive responses that help the family members to achieve new perspectives. This helps them (family members) better understand their roles in life, the ways they interact with others, and things that may restrict change and create challenges in their lives. Through applying psychodrama, the family members will develop their use of perspective and language to explore the past, present and future. Because psychodrama helps them see the situations and themselves from an outside perspective, it offers a safe place for them to explore new solutions to challenges or difficulties, whether they are rooted in past situations or outside causes (Giacomucci, 2021). The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

GUIDELINES for the Family Therapy Writing Assignment (FTWA):

*** The Family Therapy Writing Assignment (FTWA):  Each student is expected to meet with an individual, a couple, or a family and ask permission to interview as part of a student assignment.  The student is expected to compose a family case study. Use first names (not initials). The FTWA should be a minimum of five pages, a maximum of six pages, excluding the title, abstract and reference pages and the genogram and ecomap.  Five recent peer-reviewed articles must be referenced.

The FTWA must follow the following GUIDELINES: Family Interview and Assessment, Clinical Hypothesis, Therapeutic Approach, Summary, Genogram, Ecomap and References. Refer to the FTWA PPTs under FTWA within the N779 BB Course.

The Family Interview and Assessment (20%) includes a family interview.  If you are unable to meet with a family you may meet with an individual or couple.  Follow these guidelines to conduct the interview:  Gather all relevant demographic information related to the immediate family:  gender, age, ethnicity, religion/spirituality, education, occupation, socioeconomic position, and, if relevant, migration history.  Include pertinent history regarding medical, developmental, psychiatric, and substance use (history and current use) history.  Identify significant events and relationships:  births, deaths, marriages, divorces, moves, and accidents. Identify the “problem” and the “identified patient” (IP). Recount the history of the “problem.”  Be specific. When did the problem begin? Identify corresponding events.  How does the “problem” impact the relationships between family members and the overall functioning of the family?  As you learn about the “problem,” be sure to identify family members’ perceptions of the problem and what created it and sustains it.  Identify why the individual or family is seeking help now and what each member hopes to get from the family therapy experience.  Identify strengths and resources that may help this family find relief from the “problem.”  Identify interactional patterns between people.

 

Compose a Clinical Hypothesis (5%). Assess the functioning of this family. The assessment should include the following points: identify ways in which the family relationships are or could be related to the presenting problem in both adaptive and maladaptive ways.  Form one tentative clinical hypothesis about what you feel may be the cause of the “problem” within the family. Describe and state your hypothesis clearly.  The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

 

Determine your Therapeutic Approach (25%). Consider the following family therapy models discussed in class: psychodynamic, systems, structural, strategic, experiential, or solution-focused.  Choose one of these models to use as an approach to treatment with the above stated individual or family. Begin by writing a summary statement about the model (include the basic assumptions/concepts of the model).  Provide a rationale for choosing this model.   Identify the goals of therapy, describe one intervention and specify it to this family.  Provide an expected outcome.

 

Construct a Genogram (20%). A minimum of a 2 generational genogram must be constructed in order to depict the contents of the interview as outlined above.  To construct the genogram use standardized genogram symbols and format.  Use relationship lines relevant to the IP and the immediate family. Provide a key for all symbols used.  Handwritten genograms must be legible.

Design an EcoMap (10%).  Identify the social systems relevant to the IP and describe the relationship the IP has with these social systems. Provide a key for all symbols used.  Handwritten ecomaps must be legible.  The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

 

This must be a Scholarly Presentation (15%).  The FTWA must be typed and conform to format as outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition. Refer to the APA Professional Paper posted under FTWA within the N779 BB Course.

 

Class presentation (5%) is required: FTWA presentations will be on 10/17 on zoom, AND 10/24 ON CAMPUS. Students are expected to attend both days of Class Presentations. 15-20 MINUTES will be allowed. ONLY an INDEX CARD can be used during the presentation (NO laptops, Phones, FTWAs).

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The presentation should cover:

  1. Brief Overview of the Family Interview and Assessment describing the “Identified Patient” and the “Presenting Problem;”
  2. Genogram & Ecomap Discussion: Describe the relationship of the IP and those closest to her/him and Describe the relationship of the IP and the social systems she/he is involved with;
  3. Clinical Hypothesis;
  4. Name of the Therapeutic Approach chosen and the Reason for choosing this approach;
  5. Describe ONE intervention and SPECIFY it to the family;
  6. Expected Outcome. The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper

This is a family therapy writing assignment.I have attachment of the instructions and guidelines for this paper Please open all of them one by one. I also included a power point that gives a clear example of what the professor is looking for in this paper. There is also a PowerPoint that has in detail the different therapeutic approaches that we are to choose from. This professor is super strict with APA down to the pacing.
Please open all the attachments to understand of what the professor expects. of there is is ay question regarding the genogram and ecopmap or anything regarding this paper feel free to contact me. Thank you The Family Therapy Writing Assignment Paper