Concept of Family Systems - Essay Example

? Family Systems Family Systems Introduction Family therapy is quite complex and involved. Just as individuals bring different needs to the client-counselor relationship, there are multiple dynamics that must be considered when the entire family is thrust into a counseling environment. Some members may enter into the counseling relationship willingly, while others remain hesitant and skeptical. The counselor, therefore, must approach each situation individually within his or her own model of family therapy. Two common approaches utilized in today’s therapeutic environment revolve around structural therapy and multigenerational therapy. This brief essay will explore the concepts behind each and reach a conclusion as to which method is more suited to this student’s own way of thinking and approach to psychology. Structural Therapy The method of structural therapy is a part of the family systems of therapy that has become popular in recent years. While there are many approaches a counselor can take when considering family therapy, the structural approach specifically examines problems in family dynamics and makeup as an effort to help determine why the individual is having difficulties in life. It should be noted at this point that structural therapy does not try to assign blame to any particular family member of situation, but rather its aim it to discover how certain interactions within the family may serve to support the various symptoms that an individual might be experiencing (McClendon, et. al., 2005, p. 328). The family dynamics that a counselor may explore in this type of therapy are varied. They might begin by looking at the ways different family members interact with one another. An example of this might be looking at how a father becomes a bit overzealous of his athletic son. Expectations might be high, and the father might not handle poor performance on the part of the son very well. Another example could be extreme cases of bullying perpetuated by one older sibling against a younger sibling (Vetere, 2001, p. 133). These instances may cause fear in each individual family member and strain relationships within the context of the larger family. One can make a generalized statement that the role of a counselor is to listen and to feel empathy for their clients during therapy. When employing the structural model of family therapy, however, therapists need to get actively involved in the inner-workings of the family. In essence, they need to become as much a part of the family as is possible. In this context, the therapist would then be able to interact with various family members as certain events are taking place. This allows them to speak openly about problems or issues that might arise and to point out certain negative interactions that are causing the dysfunction in the family in the first place. In addition, they might be able to point out positive behaviors exhibited by individual family members that are going over looked and causing certain roots of bitterness, and even hatred or neglect (McClendon, et. al., 2005, p. 330). As the therapist interacts with the family on a regular basis, their role becomes one of mentor, or coach. Their position is to help family members see the consequences of their negative behaviors, and to realize the power of influence their positive behaviors can have. The counselor does this not so much by teaching, but more by directing family members to realize this for themselves and to, over time, begin to change their actions and attitudes (McClendon, et. al., 2005, p. 331). As such, this is a different type of therapy that counselors typically engage in and is one that requires a different mindset altogether. It is for this reason that therapists who employ the family structure model of therapy typically receive special training before doing so. Multigenerational Family Therapy Similar to the family structure method of therapy, multigenerational family therapy requires a close examination of the family. In contrast, however, the multigenerational approach goes back several generations in an effort to determine the causes of individual behavior today. The theory here revolves around the idea that certain patterns of interaction and behavior evident in a family today have been passed down from generation to generation. In other words, certain behaviors have been predetermined and firmly established by the parent’s family of origin. Therapists who use multigenerational family therapy will typically begin to explore emotional and social disorders by first looking at similar disorders that might have been evident in earlier family members. To do this, they will gather quite a bit of family history and different accounts of behaviors that were evident going back generations. These same problems, many therapists feel, are likely to be passed on to future family members because families tend to often interact and behave the same way that their own families did while they were growing up (Klever, 2005, p. 254). The pattern of positive and negative interactions, as well as certain behavioral and emotional disorders, is likely to be transferred from one nuclear family unit to the next without even realizing it. This type of therapy is also different from the structural theory in terms of the root causes of certain behavior. Whereas the structural family therapist may look at the mother of a schizophrenic child, for example, as being largely responsible for some of the behavioral symptoms evident in the child, the multigenerational therapist would look at the mother as just one possible agent in a long line of family members that possibly contributed to the schizophrenia over the years (Klever, 2005, p. 258). Families tend to evolve over time, and their behaviors and interactions with one another tend to evolve right along with them. The values, morals, and behaviors in one generation tend to be similar to the next. The cycle is often difficult to break, resulting in many of the same behavioral and emotional disorders being repeated, if not every other generation, then in a certain pattern of generations that the therapist can often uncover. These values are communicated from one family unit to the next can often be the root cause of great conflict and tension within the family unit, causing individual family members to exhibit symptoms that were evident in previous generations as well. Because of this, the therapist who adheres to this theory would often ask the grandparents to come in for a few sessions to determine certain patterns of behavior existent in the family that might have been around for years. A Favored Theory/Conclusion Both of these theories have merit in their own right, or they would not be considered valid therapeutic approaches. The structural therapy way of dealing with family issues, however, seems more applicable in today’s world. This approach enables the counselor to get personally involved with the family in an effort to determine immediate issues that need to be resolved. It is a more hands-on approach, whereas the mutigenerational family therapy approach approaches various behavioral and other emotional disorders from more of a historical approach, negating mitigating factors that might be happening today. It is important to understand the root causes of any problem that is presented to a counselor that might be rooted in a family situation. One of the most effective ways to properly diagnose and treat the symptoms of these issues is to first observe the family interacting with one another. By observing, the therapist can begin to gently guide family members toward a system of more positive behaviors and interactions with one another that will hopefully contribute to a healthier emotional state for all members in the family. It is quite possible that the multigenerational family therapy approach can find deep-rooted issues that have been evident for generations, but the structured approach seems more practical and likely to produce effective results in a shorter amount of time. References Klever, P. (2005). The multigenerational transmission of family unit functioning. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 33(3), 253-264. McLendon, D., McLendon, T., and Petr, C. (2005). Family-directed structural therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 31(4), 327-339. Vetere, A. (2001). Structural family therapy. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 6(3), 133. Read More