Family Therapy Assignment Help

This report contains the necessary concept of the family therapy. The report is based on the research made by the therapist Murray Bowen. Bowen referred different healthy and unhealthy issues within the family therapy. Refereeing the issues he suggested different concepts which are described below. The eight interconnected theories which are constructed by him on different situation of family tension are illustrated through this report. These eight interlocking systems are referred on different situations of family. The therapy techniques, normal family development and the techniques referred by Bowen are also added in this essay.

Explain the concepts of healthy and problematic family development in experiential family therapy.

Bowen family system theory is based on the human behavior theory. This theory leads to the concept which indicates the family as the emotional unit. The theory describes different complex interactions within the unit. Dr. Murray Bowen, psychiatrist, originated the theory of family system with eight interlocking concept. (The Bowen Centre., 2016) He explained his theory on the concept of how a family develop and function. Bowen explained two forces which are associated with the theory- togetherness and individuality. Too much individuality results in an isolated and separated family.  On the other hand too much togetherness causes synthesis and prevents individuality and reduces the development of own sense of self.

Bowen in the basis concepts of family theory described eight interlocking system:

Differentiation of self: this is associated with the ability to separate the feeling and thoughts. The people with undifferentiated mind cannot separate their feelings and thoughts. The concept can be better understood through its counterpart emotional fusion. The emotional fusion is the tendency where family member share their emotional responses. In such condition there is small space in the emotional autonomy as a result of poor interpersonal borders within the family members. The undifferentiated people are more independent on their family to define their feelings. (sagepub.com, 2016) Differentiation is the process which gives the idea on how one can free own self from the family’s possession on defining own self. This process develops the ability to have different vision and different opinions than the family members while staying connected to the family members emotionally. This is related to reflect calmly on the critical interaction and realise on own role in this.  A member of differentiated family is able to restrain the anxiety and address own emotional issues. (The Bowen Centre., 2016)

Emotional system: family emotional system contains the emotional thoughts, feelings which are associated with the members. The debate of nature versus nurture is associated with the family system. (The Bowen Centre., 2016) Different family emotional processes are:

Nuclear family emotional process: this process flows through the family from generations. It gives four family relational patterns to describe the problems over families. Clinical problems and other issues are developed during the heightened and prolonged family tensions. The tension level is defined on the development if the stress by the family unit and the connection with the social networks and family members. (sagepub.com, 2016)

Marital conflict: with the extension of the family tension the spouse gets more anxious which reflects on the relationships. In the situation of stress each one focuses on others’ and tries to control other one. (Met calf, 2011)

Dysfunction in one spouse: this situation arise while one souse of a marital couple tries to put pressure on other’s thinking and actions in particular ways then the other one get furious over the situation. While both of them tries to accommodate for preserving the harmony it has been seen that one is trying more. (The Bowen Centre., 2016) With the increase of the tension the one spouse give up on self control which gives rises to the anxiety. The anxiety gives rises to the social dysfunction, psychiatric and medical development. . (sagepub.com, 2016)

Impairment of one or more children: this situation arises when spouses tend to focus their anxieties over one or more of children. They have negative view over the child or worry on particular cause. As the increase focus of the parents the focus of the child also increased. That child became more reactive than other siblings in needs and parents’ expectation.  (sagepub.com, 2016)  The process reduces the child’s differentiation from the family.  The child’s anxiety can damage his performance in the school, his health and social relationships.

Emotional distance: this theory is related to the people’s emotions. When people try to distance themselves from the other to reduce relationship intensity then he/ she become more isolated in the process. These patterns create family tensions in certain family. . (sagepub.com, 2016)

Family projection process:  this primarily concern with the parents transmitting their emotional problems into their child. Projection process can damage the performance of one or more children and raise their weakness to medical symptoms. In this children tend to inherit different types of problem and also in certain cases strengths.  (sagepub.com, 2016)  The problem that they inherit reflects on their future relationships’ sensitivities like difficulties in dealing with expectations, heightened requirements for consideration and endorsement and the tendency to blame others, having sense of responsibilities over others’ feelings and happiness and rather than tolerating the anxiety acting impulsively on it. (The Bowen Centre., 2016)  On the intense projection process the child develops strong sensitivities over relationships. This also increases susceptibility of the child to the symptoms by developing behaviours that rise chronic anxiety in a relationship system. In certain cases it has been seen that the parents are more focused on the child as they are thinking that they have not given enough love or satisfactory aspects to the child. In this way they are less careful about the siblings who led the siblings to have more mature and reality based relationships with their parents. . (sagepub.com, 2016)

Mutigenerational transmission process: this process involves the method which refers to the transmission family emotions through generations of multigenerational family. The degree and nature of intensity are passed down from generation to generation. This entails how the whole family is related to the family projection process the small differences into the levels of differentiation between parents and children flow through other generations for marking the differences in differentiation within the members of the family. (The Bowen Centre., 2016) The information of the differences is flowed through the relationships over different generations. It involves more recognition process in the family history. This occurs through interconnected levels through various processes such as conscious teaching and information learning to the unconscious and automatic reactions of emotions and behaviours. As the family members continuous this process over several generations they also tend to refer to the previous generations. In this process the emotional expression and the physical forces are combined together for allowing the expression of a symptom. It predicts that the symptoms will reappear or a new system can appear in other family member. . (sagepub.com, 2016)

Emotional triangle: it is the network of relationship among three people. It includes the methods of building the molecules of the larger system of emotion as it defines that a triangle is the smallest stable relationship state. This state of system can contain more tension among the three relationships the tension is spread through a series of interlocking triangles. This method indicates that spreading the tension will be able to minimise tension or stabilised the system. People’s deeds in a triangle mirror their efforts to declare emotional attachments, their responses to higher intensity within the attachments, and taking sides in others’ divergences. It generates odd man out which is affected to the anxiety. Within the triangle the patterns change with the changes in the tension intensity. When the tension is higher two remain calm as insiders while the odd man out or the third person is the outsider being uncomfortable. The outsider is excluded from the activities of the insiders. Within triangle one is always forcing for charge and uncomfortable. The insiders create strong bond in their relations over the less desirable outsider which lead the feeling of sense of rejection raised.

Sibling position: Bowen suggested that the siblings have different effects in the family unit. While the older one has more responsibilities and more mature the younger one possesses immaturity and is overly irresponsible. Bowen created the conceptualization of the importance of sibling position which is reflected in the work of Toman. (sagepub.com, 2016)  Toman stated 10 different types of traits within each sibling and how these influenced on their behaviour and relations with the parents. Bowen referred to the sibling position for assessing the degree of differentiation and also reflecting the process of mutigenerational projection. Having similar position in the sibling people tend to show marked differences in functioning. (The Bowen Centre., 2016)

Societal regression: this concept reveals the how an emotional behaviour manages over the societal level. By considering its suggestion an example can be formed that if we consider the level of anxiety of society over the terrorist attack of 11th September, 2001 then we will see the impact of social failure. (sagepub.com, 2016)  This regression are seen in the family as the parents treating their child with juvenile delinquents which leading to the parents control over the child ineffectual in a vast manner. In these cases the parents express their disappointments and imply harsh punishments which led the child to lie for getting around to the parents. Many courts seemed the juvenile treatment as a poor parenting. (The Bowen Centre., 2016)

Emotional cut offs: it refers to the unresolved issues with the parents and the siblings through cutting off the attachments with them. While cutting off all the contacts or moving away from going while contacting them often, they cut off all sensitive issues. Through this the people try to reduce the family tension while making risk in posing too much importance for the new relationships. In the first stage it seemed to be effective while in later stage the patterns taken by the people leads to jeopardise relationship. . (sagepub.com, 2016)

Normal family development: Bowen imposed the fact that family development occurs when the family members maintain healthy emotional contact. The normal family developed when:  They balance within the two terms togetherness and separation, Have the ability to adopt changes within family environment, Connected across generations towards extended family, Encompasses little distance and fusion in emotions, Have the ability to tolerate and also support the members who posses different views and values and Have the awareness of the external and also internal influences over the family issues. (Goldenberg, 2012).

Goals of the therapy:

The treatment of family to reframe the problem as a multigenerational problem, Lowering the anxiety and the turmoil faced by the family, To use the therapists as a healthy triangle, Opening the ties with the cut off members and Addressing the differential power in the family. (Rasheed, 2010)

Techniques: Bowen did not prefer the therapeutic techniques in the family therapy. He referred the basic techniques like questioning the family members and constructing a family genogram.

Questioning: it is a therapeutic session to conducting an interview to have differentiation. Factual questions are used to develop the genogram which provides the understanding of the problem to both therapists and clients. (Titelman, 2014)

Structuring: family members would be invited for having the interview. It includes calm discussion about the struggle and situation.

Responding: with the responses of the clients and the therapists the anxiety in the room gets more conscious and gives the opportunity to address them directly. (Titelman, 2014)

Conclusion

The report describes the family therapy which was clinically researched by Bowen. It is an effective theory for solving the marriage and family issues. It symbolises a living organism. Through this therapy concept the social and cultural forces and their impacts on our values and the values of families, are observed clearly. Bowen significantly referred these concepts for representing the healthy and unhealthy issues within family and the reason behind them. He through these concepts represented our thoughts over how the world works. He spelled out the relationship within the differentiation and anxiety.