Research Paper on "Relevance of Family Counseling"

Research Paper 12 pages (3787 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

These create barriers to the effectiveness of treatment.

The flexible counselor will be able to recognize these prejudices, biases, and stereotypes, and avoid them by creating a therapeutic alliance with the family to create a safe, convenient, and effective counseling environment. This will also increase the acceptability of therapy by clients because clients will not feel the prejudice and biases of the counselor. An example explained by Ponterotto (2009)

is that persons from families that embrace the extended family culture may feel the session is not helpful if the counselor focuses on the individual family members exposing their personal feelings without regarding the family's culture and subsystems.

For the counselor to be flexible in their work, there is a need to ensure the culture of the family is contextually considered within the family subsystem. The counselor must be able to understand how communication within the family goes on as a result of these subsystems. It is through this process of self-reflection that the counselor develops strategies and techniques that enhance the relationships of the individuals in these subsystems Marbley, 2011()

Boundaries as part of family subsystems

Boundaries are an important component of family culture and subsystems. Culturally competent counselors should be able to appreciate the boundaries within family culture and how individuals function within these boundaries. The counselor should diagnose and consider the boundaries present in the family members since they define the health or lack of functionality in family subsystems. As put forth by Chung & Yoo, 2013(Godart et al. (2012)

, boundaries within family subsystems protect the differentiation within the subsystem. Each subsystem within the family has specific tasks and roles for its members. These predicate the freedom of the members of the subsystem thus creating boundaries )

For family therapy to be successful, the counselor must actively understand how the family functions and what boundaries exist in for each family member. Boundaries help to present the family structure in the ideal way to include essential family actions such as socialization, support, and nurturing.

First and second order change

Once family boundaries are defined clearly, problems within a family are minimized. If problems are present, family therapy may not be successful. This is because the family members may not be able to create healthy solutions since the counselor on their part is using ineffective techniques in a repetitive manner. Cornish, Schreier, Nadkarni, Metzger, and Rodolfa (2010)

state that this lack of respect for boundaries in families results in arguing and yelling and is referred to as first order change. First order change does not resolve the problem neither does it make it worse. Second-order change, on the other hand, occurs when the first-order resolutions are changed resulting in the problems being resolved.

Effective techniques that the counselor may choose to use include motivational interviewing. This strategy will help the family to use second-order strategies to clarify subsystems and boundaries. Counselors often use this strategy when they understand that the family is using first order change strategies and techniques. In families with rigid or diffuse boundaries, there are difficulties in creating second order change Aga Mohd Jaladin, 2013.

The counselor, through cultural competency, should be able to determine whether it is difficulties arising from boundary rigidity that brought them to therapy or there are other underlying issues. This is the only way through which second-order change can be created for the family. As stated by Hays and Erford (2013)

, in cross-cultural marriages, diffuse boundaries that exist between the couple are their parents are often a source of conflict.

Applying cultural competence to family therapy

A culturally competent therapist should be able to ask and answer questions relating to the level of acculturation of the family. This should be coupled with whether the level of acculturation creates a boundaries problem. The counselor should understand how culture defines boundaries existing within the family, and whether the family deviates from their cultural boundaries from time to time Ponterotto, 2009.

Other essential questions for the counselor to answer during the sessions is whether the family is willing to depart from their culture or for those deviating from their culture, to conform to their beliefs, and whether the family can embrace these changes while staying within their boundaries Hays & Erford, 2013.

After these questions are answered, the counselor should use his cultural competencies to apply family therapy to create second-order change in the family.

During the counseling sessions, the greatest mistake for the counselor to make would be to impose their beliefs on boundaries to the family members. This shows that the counselor is not respecting the family culture and boundaries and has no intention of creating functional and healthy boundaries. Often, a culturally sensitive therapist should pursue more information about a culture from other members of the same culture or through other research Aga Mohd Jaladin, 2013.

Other ways to collect this information is through questionnaires with family members and open-ended discussions during counseling sessions. These will reveal the culture, structure, boundaries and subsystems that exist within the family. This information together with the cultural sensitivity of the counselor will help them to create a safe and conducive therapeutic environment to facilitate positive second-order changes.

Subsystems, boundaries, and changes existing within families are the three most important factors in family therapy. For a counselor to exhibit cultural competence, they should be able to pursue knowledge and understanding of the family culture Marbley, 2011.

This should be done through research of the culture, open discussions and questionnaires for the family members to complete. These will reveal the family structure, boundaries, subsystems, and changes that exist and which the counselor should be culturally sensitive to.

Often, conventional counseling techniques and strategies may hinder deliverance of effective multicultural counseling techniques. This is majorly because conventional counseling reinforces beliefs of problems stemming from individuals Aga Mohd Jaladin, 2013.

The major aspect in family therapy is the relationships that the family members have with each other. Though the individual is an important component of family therapy, their environment of interaction is most important because it define the three most important components of family therapy -- subsystems, structure, and boundaries Harper et al., 2009()

Multicultural counseling advocates for flexibility of the counselor or therapist. It is important for the therapist to recognize their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, social interactions, cultural, and political beliefs. These should then be compared with those learnt from the client and their family and then the counselor should change their counseling techniques and strategies to reflect what they have learnt about the client.

Barriers to multicultural counseling

Family therapy presents several challenges to multicultural counseling. First, there is the set of challenges that the counselor faces in trying to apply multicultural competencies. One major challenge in this set is for the counselor to reach out, learn, and understand the beliefs, views, circumstances, and values of other cultures. In this sense, the culturally competent counselor must struggle with feelings of cultural shock and inadequacy that may arise from facing families from diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, within families from the same ethnic backgrounds, there is the need to understand the structure, boundaries, and subsystems within each family, which creates an extra set of challenges for the counselor.

The second challenge for counselors is to free themselves from their own cultural conditioning. The personal beliefs, values, and practices of the counselor create stereotypes, perceptions, and beliefs about the client's ethnic group. These hinder the formation of a therapeutic relationship with the client. This is because often the counselor may look at their own personal beliefs, values, and practices, as superior to those of others. This negative perception of clients may make clients feel unappreciated thus hindering therapeutic relationships between the client and counselor.

The third challenge for the counselor is to develop new and culturally sensitive approaches to the clients. Here there is the issue about expertise, trust, and credibility. Approaches that the counselor adopts need to be informed by practice. If other counselors have applied a similar method in the past, the counselor should find out the success of this method. The expertise in the method will create a feeling of trust in the client who will feel that the therapist is able to handle their situation. Secondly, the client must trust the approach Diller, 2010.

Trust arises from the method reflecting and respecting the culture, structure, subsystems, and boundaries within the family. If the counselor shows an appreciation of these, the degree of confidence that the client has to the counselor will increase considerably. The last important aspect is credibility. The method in use by the counselor must create a feeling of capability to solve their problems.

The last challenge for counselors is to play new roles. The counselor must promote balance between power and mutual respect to ensure different perspectives of the other group are taken into consideration at all times. According to Chung and Yoo (2013)

, this is a huge challenge… READ MORE

How to Reference "Relevance of Family Counseling" Research Paper in a Bibliography

Related Research Papers:

Family Therapy Term Paper

Parent Trap 1 and 2" is a movie that depicts a family that would benefit from family counseling. Using Bowen's Family Systems Therapy and McGoldric's Ethnicity and Family Therapy, the… read more

Term Paper 17 pages (4825 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Family / Dating / Marriage

---

Family Health History Essay

Family Health History

It is important to note from the onset that although I came to the U.S. approximately 17 years ago, my parents have been residing in this country… read more

Essay 8 pages (2560 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Family / Dating / Marriage

---

Reality Therapy in Marriage and Family Counseling Article Review

Reality Therapy in Marriage and Family Counseling

We as human beings all have our own unique needs and desires. It is from these basic needs that our behavior is modeled,… read more

Article Review 3 pages (870 words) Sources: 1 Topic: Psychology / Behavior / Psychiatry

---

Spousal Abuse and Its Impact on Family Members Term Paper

Spousal Abuse on Family Members

Spousal abuse or violence is a hidden but widespread phenomenon in society. Certain theories have attempted to explain it, its origin, how it occurs, its… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1739 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Family / Dating / Marriage

---

School Counseling and Improvement of Student Academic Achievement in Students With Special Needs Term Paper

Counseling

School counselors play an important and not always acknowledged role in providing assistance to students, giving students someone to talk to, and offering direction for those experiencing difficulties in… read more

Term Paper 15 pages (3837 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Psychology / Behavior / Psychiatry

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>