Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on improving communication and resolving conflicts within families. It involves all members of the family, including children, parents, and sometimes extended family members or other people who are important to the family unit. The goal of family therapy is to help families develop healthy patterns of interaction and improve their relationships with each other.
In family therapy, questions play a fundamental role in helping the therapist get to the root of the problem and assisting the couple in getting back on track. Circular questioning is one of the techniques used by family therapists to produce optimum results. This technique helps identify dysfunctional family patterns and interactions, allowing them to be addressed. Through this process, families can free themselves from any internal demons that may be weighing them down (Schoombie, 2008).
A family therapist uses circular questioning to explore the past and present life situations. By asking questions, therapists aim to broaden the scope of the presented issue.
It is the difference you create in your clients’ minds about the reality they have created for themselves that is therapeutic.” (Schoombie, 2008)
Firstly, the family of this twelve-year-old needs to be questioned about their marriage prior to having children. Were they close and connected? Or were they separated by their careers? Did they begin drifting apart after having kids, and if so, when did this start? Additionally, what other possible reasons could have contributed to the current situation?
Further questions to consider are whether the marital tension is caused by their busy lifestyles. Is it possible that their different backgrounds contribute to their marriage problems and inability to fully attend to their families? Could both the husband’s and wife’s careers be a factor in their tensions?
This Canadian family came to therapy with the goal of solving their son’s problem and potentially vindicating themselves from any role they may have played. It’s possible they also sought therapy because they recognized that their own troubles could be affecting their children and genuinely believed that therapy could help improve their family relationship. However, it’s undeniable that their marital issues and failure to prioritize time with their children is negatively impacting the kids’ psychological development. The parents may think that only their son is struggling, but even his ten-year-old sister has her own problems largely caused by the rift in the marriage and lack of quality time.
These are some of the deductions that a family therapist can make after questioning this family. Once the family has been open and honest about their role in their son’s problem, therapy sessions for the son can begin in earnest.
Two family therapy models that would be helpful in mending things for this family are Experiential Therapy and Milan Therapy.
Experiential therapy is a tool for exploring relationships and connections with others (Casa Palmera, 2008). It involves acting out past and present emotional atmospheres of the family of origin as well as other significant relationships in the client’s life. The primary goal of this enactment is to help clients achieve self-discovery. For any psychological treatment to be deemed successful, self-discovery must be observed first.
By reliving past experiences, clients can gain a new perspective on their relationships and release any bottled-up emotions they may be holding onto.
Experiential therapy can help clients to free themselves from unresolved emotions related to relationships, allowing them to live more freely in the present. (Human Connections Counseling Services, 2008)
Experiential therapy offers numerous benefits, including increased self-confidence and independence, greater focus on the present, connections between the real and symbolic, improved communication leading to enriched relationships, and reduced compulsive behaviors.
The family in question would surely benefit from experiential therapy because it has been shown that their pasts are interconnected with the present. There must have been a time in their lives when they were free of the issues they are faced with now. By helping them go back to those good old days, they will see what they are missing out on in the present and the problems they are creating for their kids.
They will return to the point where the rain started beating and pick up the pieces from there. A healthier relationship between this husband and wife will naturally lead to a fuller life for their children as well. As a result, they can easily identify any special problems their children may have and help them deal with these issues more effectively. Neglect can cause psychological problems in children, such as ADD and ADHD.
Regarding the limited therapy sessions, if I am able to effectively communicate with the family and elicit a meaningful response from them during the first session – assuming that the couple is genuinely invested in resolving their issues – then solutions can be achieved within this short time frame. This would allow for the boy’s parents to continue addressing and working on their problems outside of therapy.
If no meaningful success is achieved within this time, I will insist on the need for more sessions to get to the bottom of the problem and ensure that the boy is healed.
Milan therapy, on the other hand, states that families are composed of individuals who are also systems (Bateson 1971: 243). The theory was put forward by a group of psychologists called the Milan Group. It attempts to discover how the inner mechanism of an individual’s mind is influenced by relationships around them.
Milan therapy has identified that many family disorders manifest themselves through communication patterns between individuals and the rest of the family. The Milan Group viewed the world in terms of relationship and information patterns (Tucker, 2008).
Milan therapy emphasizes that a change in family communication can have a profound impact on the entire family. In the case at hand, it is possible that this is what occurred, and it is the therapist’s responsibility to work towards restoring communication channels to their previous state. This will enable the family to share their problems effectively since research has shown that when one part of the system breaks down, other parts are also affected. Fortunately, limited sessions should not pose a significant challenge as long as the couple commits to continuing to improve their communication patterns even after completing therapy.
What is the relationship between therapy models? The main similarity is that they both demonstrate how a breakdown in family communication can lead to significant problems for everyone in the family. Each model addresses repairing these communication issues, but in different ways.
The Experiential method emphasizes the importance of embarking on a journey of self-discovery, while the Milan model involves examining the entire system (family) in relation to the individual problem.
The most effective method for treating the twelve-year-old boy appears to be the experiential model. This model is easier to use on individuals, as it allows the therapist to assist the individual alone if they are unable to involve the whole family in the healing process.
The therapist will assist the boy in reflecting on when the problem originated and what may have caused it.
The experiential model has been shown to restore self-confidence in individuals and provides activities that combine learning and mental stretching. Additionally, physical activity can help boys overcome their ADD/ADHD problems.
The program ensures that feelings of depression and anxiety are minimized while also facilitating a connection with oneself. It builds positive energy and helps a person find purpose.
The model suppresses negative behaviors and replaces them with creative activities. This way, the boy will learn to express his disappointments in more useful ways that do not jeopardize his mental development or affect his social relationships.
The most important element of the Experiential model is the bit about exercise. Dr. Ratey from About.com has written about exercise and ADHD, stating that:
Exercise helps to heighten the response to stressors. That means we become less stressed by the same stressors when in good physical condition. We don’t activate the initial stress response as quickly, and we make our cells more resilient through a process called stress inoculation.” By subjecting our cells to some stress, we build up internal resistance to future stressors. This way, we create armies of our own antioxidant enzymes, repair and rebuild proteins, and improve the toxic waste disposal crews inside our nerve cells.
References
About.com (2008) provides information about ADHD. The source can be retrieved from the World Wide Web on April 19, 2008, at http://www.dmrtk.jgytf.u-szeged.hu/phare/pol/more.htm.
Casa Palmera (2007) provides informative articles on Experiential Therapy, which can be accessed through the World Wide Web as of April 19, 2008 at http://www.casapalmera.com/articles/experiential-therapy/.
DEFCS Phare (2008) offers information on family therapy. To learn more, visit their website at http://www.dmrtk.jgytf.u-szeged.hu/phare/pol/more.htm. This information was retrieved from the World Wide Web on April 19, 2008.
Schoombie, B. (2007). Circular Questioning. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on April 19, 2008 at www.suite101.com.
Simpson, L. (1991). The Comparative Efficacy of Milan Family Therapy for Disturbed Individuals and Their Families. New York.
Tucker, K. (2008) critiques the Milan Approach to Family Therapy in her article Family Therapy.” The article can be accessed on the World Wide Web at www.priory.com, and was retrieved on April 19, 2008.
