THERAPIES FOR USE IN A FAMILY SETTING LITERATURE REVIEW

Student’s name

Department of affiliation

University

Course code and name

Instructor

Date

Literature review

Abraham, F. D., Abraham, R. H., & Shaw, C. D. (1990). A visual introduction to dynamical systems theory for psychology. Aerial Press.

Systems theory asserts that a human being has an environment in within themselves and therefore this environment makes the human being function properly. However, as it is the nature of every system sometimes there might be some damage that needs repair. There are also very many different types of injuries within the human body system and therefore they require different types of treatments. Focusing on family therefore and the system theory there is a lot to borrow from Dr. Murray Bowen who applied the same theory in families in the 1960s. He came up with the family systems theory which uses family systems therapy. Therefore what he suggested is that a family is a unit and a person cannot fully exist outside a family. This, therefore, means that a person has to belong to a place and it is through the understanding of where a person belongs that a person can be helped.

In systems theory, it can be said that a person is fully functional once the psychological part is repaired through counseling. However, the larger and extended form of systems theory by Murray suggests that a family is a unit and a system on its own. Every person has a place to fit in and therefore if a person does not fit in properly into a family then they might not belong there fully yet. Therefore through the understanding of the family not only by talking to them but even by observing them freely, it becomes very possible for a psychologist to be able to know them and learn how to help them.

Allen, B., Riden, E., & Shenk, C. E. (2020). Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Youth: Tradition and Innovation (pp. 91-108). Humana, New York, NY.

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy requires the person or the counselor in charge to work through trauma not only in children but also in the parents and help them. If parents underwent trauma when they were young and they kept on ignoring it and it was never dealt with it comes out that there is a very high probability that they will pass the same to their children. Therefore when they pass traumatic experiences to children either through the manner of talking or the punishments if they do wrong or through other methods the children are likely to develop trauma. Therefore a parent who notices this kind of trend is a very important step for them to inform a counselor who will be able to help their children overcome the trauma at an early age.

When this therapy is used there is always a very high chance of success and therefore I would use this therapy in a family with stress-related issues especially in the children and even in the parents. One other important part of this therapy is that a counselor has to make sure that the parent has a way to deal with theory trauma and they do no focus the trauma on the children as they grow because that is one of the most basic things that cause trauma in children alongside other reasons.

Corcoran, J., & Pillai, V. (2009). A review of the research on solution-focused therapy. British Journal of Social Work, 39(2), 234-242.

This is a therapy that focuses majorly on providing a solution to the problems at hand and in this case a family that is suffering from traumatic issues. This type of therapy does not concentrate so much on the problems at hand but rather focuses on the solutions. It is a hope-friendly type of therapy whereby the problems are forgotten and the counselor helps the family to focus on the future. Through the formulation of a method of dealing with different problems and issues which influence and affect the family the positive aspects of the solution-based therapy are expected to be met. Therefore the counselor begins by encouraging the family that the future will be better than analyzing the problems at hand for example a family that suffers from trauma the counselor guides them into the future.

However, the counselor has to be very careful because the future might be too hopeful the family forgets what they are supposed to do to deal with the issues that affect them. Therefore the counselor, in this case, has to insist and always confirm if the right thing is done to help the family get out of the psychological problems that afflict them. I would be very much willing to use this theory on a family since hope and positivity has a lot of energy and therefore if a family believes it is possible for them to change what happens there and their problems can be done away with then it even becomes easy. Therefore focusing on the future and the good parts of the future can prove to be very beneficial rather than focusing on the problems and never looking into the future.

Questions

The rationale for Intervention strategies selection

The basic reason for the choice of the above three therapies is that all of them have a very high record of success especially when it comes to dealing with families and helping them. Therefore by using them I will be assured of success in helping the family that I will be helping. The other reason is that I am most comfortable with the three therapies and therefore taking a family through a therapy I already like and enjoy using makes the work easier, the family becomes easier to deal with and they fully understand what I am doing. Therefore once a family understands this then the process of counseling becomes even enjoyable and their psychological issues become easier to deal with.

Literature review support the therapies of families

Literature review supports the therapies in that the documents chosen for the literature review are very relevant and they contain almost all the information about the theories and therapies. This means that using the literature review documents for the therapies I can even read and polish my knowledge about the three therapies and use the notes from the literature review to conduct my assignment of helping a family and individuals person who in this case is the mother in the family.

References

Abraham, F. D., Abraham, R. H., & Shaw, C. D. (1990). A visual introduction to dynamical systems theory for psychology. Aerial Press.

Allen, B., Riden, E., & Shenk, C. E. (2020). Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Youth: Tradition and Innovation (pp. 91-108). Humana, New York, NY.

Corcoran, J., & Pillai, V. (2009). A review of the research on solution-focused therapy. British Journal of Social Work, 39(2), 234-242.