Developing Alliance with Family Members - Assignment Example

The alliance is important in briefing a counselor about the behaviors of the rebellious adolescent son, problems faced by Mr. Rodney, challenges of money at work, and the condition of the other two children.

The second thing a counselor should do is to request a meeting with the entire family by visiting the family in their home. Since the rebellious adolescent who is failing 10th grade seems to be the main problem, a counselor needs to establish an alliance with him to create a good communication platform (Lebow & Uliaszek, 2013). This can be possible by first initiating the introduction process with all the family members and acknowledging the problems and challenges of the family. A counselor then can ask the whole family to explain their feelings concerning the state of the family and express if therapy can help resolve distress caused by the problems. The next thing is to ask the rebellious son to comment on his failing of 10th grade, and the likely causes of the failure. This will enable understand the emotions of the child and know the approach to employ when engaging with the adolescent, and the family as a whole.

The Hypothesis of Structures Maintaining the Problem
One of the hypotheses that could be maintaining the problem is that the parents relaxed their authority in trimming the rebellious adolescent son. Another hypothesis is that the adolescent is failing his 10th grade because of rebellion. The son could be extending his rebellion to school, which can make him not follow instructions and fail in his exams. The joblessness of the father could also create some psychological guilt as a failure and erode the authority to steer and regulate the behaviors of the son. Another issue that could maintain the problem relates to the fact that the mother has a low-income job that does not satisfy family needs, which could also make the adolescent son view his parents as failures in life.
Expectations at the Early Phase
One of the expectations in the early phase of counseling is that all family members are willing and open to communicate. Another expectation is that all family members can express their views about the problem courageously and propose possible solutions (Carlson, Krumholz & Snyder, 2013). An additional expectation is that family members exhibit calm and focus while sharing their views about the problem.

Expectations at the Middle Phase
One of the expectations is that family members avoid anxieties by addressing the counselor directly rather than confronting each other. The second expectation is that members speak about the problem without directly blaming each other for causing the situation. Another expectation is that members show genuine sympathy and attachment to one another.

Expectations at the Termination
One of the expectations is that each member of the family realizes their contributions to the presenting problems. This should happen without the counseling directly pointing at each one’s mistakes and inputs to the problem (Lebow, 2014). Another expectation is that all members accept the proposals to solve the problem and commit to implementing their new roles effectively. The condition of relationships among family members should also improve as the rebellion of the adolescent son diminishes. Read More