Family Intervention

Family Intervention

2 pgs

Having read the “What Not to Do” corner, look for one or several episodes of “Reality Therapy” talk shows which exemplify the discussed what-not-to-do principles (asking too many or closed questions and name calling). TV and Youtube are full of examples of what you, as a family therapist, should avoid (e.g., Dr. Phil’s interview with Dina Lohan, etc.). Find either one show that represents both principles or two or more shows that represent one principle each.

Write a 2-page analysis ( excluding cover and reference pages) of the therapist behavior you have observed. In your paper, include who the therapist and client were and the overall goal of the intervention. Also include the URL if the video was accessed online so the instructor may watch the same video to provide appropriate feedback to your work.

First, factually describe the therapist’s behavior and the client’s reactions. The description should be neutral and should include only facts (e.g., the therapist said the client was lying, the client tilted his head down and started crying). In this section of the paper, you are describing only what you observed (not your assumptions or emotional reactions to the therapy session).

In the second section of the paper, analyze the effect of the therapist’s behavior on the overall intervention goal. Analyze possible reasons for the methods chosen by the therapist and suggest what feelings the methods might have caused in the client.

As the conclusion, suggest how the situation should have been handled and give the reasoning behind your suggestions.

REQUIREMENTS

 counseling  family therepy book Family Therapy An Overview

More information:

M1 Content Guide “What Not to Do” Corner

In family therapy, just like in every other field, there is a set of best practices which consistently show results superior to other intervention methods. One of the ways to become a good family therapist is to learn what are not considered best practices. In this section you will learn, observe, and later discuss what NOT to do during a family therapy session.

Active Listening / Attending Behavior

In our other courses at ESC, such as Introduction to Human Services and Case Management we utilize the skills of active listening. Feedback is often given about asking too many questions and why we don’t do this. We try to minimize closed questions as much as possible. Asking too many questions makes the client feel as though they are being interrogated; it also makes the interview become therapist-driven as opposed to client-driven. Asking too many questions usually shuts the client down.

In the textbook An Introduction to Human Services, the author Marianne Woodside talks about active listening and attending behaviors.

The kind of listening that helpers engage in is called responsive listening or active listening. These terms describe the behaviors of helpers as they attend to both the verbal and the nonverbal communication of the client. What makes this type of listening special or different from other listening behaviors is that helpers also attend to what is not said, that is, to the underlying thoughts and feelings of the client, which are not expressed in words. Two ways of considering responsive or active listening as helping behaviors are presented here.

Gerard Egan in The Skilled Helper, 9th ed. (2009, pp. 134–135) suggested several things helpers can do to communicate to clients that they are listening. These five behaviors are presented as a set of guidelines that helpers can follow to let their clients know they are physically present and actively involved in the helping relationship. You can easily remember the behaviors by thinking of the acronym SOLER.

S Face the client Squarely. This is a posture of involvement. To face away from the client or even at an angle lessens the degree of involvement.

O Adopt an Open posture. This is usually perceived as non-defensive. Crossing arms or legs may not communicate openness or availability.

L Lean toward the other person. A natural sign of involvement, this posture is a slight forward inclination. Moving forward or backward can frighten a client or communicate lessened involvement.

E Maintain good Eye contact. This is normal behavior for two individuals who are involved in conversation. It is different from staring.

R Try to be relatively Relaxed. This means avoiding nervous habits such as fidgeting or tapping a pencil. Behaviors such as these can distract the client.

Remember that these are only guidelines. A helper’s physical behavior may vary in accordance with the cultural identity of the client or what is comfortable for that particular helper. Attending behavior is another way to let the client know the helper is listening. The goal of attending behavior is to encourage the client to talk about and examine issues, problems, or concerns.

Attending behavior has four dimensions: three nonverbal components and one verbal component (Ivey, Ivey, & Zalaquett, 2009):

1. Visual/eye contact. If you are going to talk to people, look at them.
2. Vocal qualities. Your vocal tone and speech rate indicate clearly how you feel about another person. Think of how many ways you can say “I am really interested in what you say” just by altering your vocal tone and speech rate.
3. Verbal tracking. The client has come to you with a topic of concern. Do not change the subject; stick with the client’s subject matter.
4. Body language: attentive. Clients know you are interested if you face them squarely and lean slightly forward, have an expressive face, and use facilitative, encouraging gestures. In short, allow yourself to be yourself—authenticity in attending is essential.

Engaging in these behaviors encourages the client to talk, reducing the amount of talk from the helper. Benefits include communicating interest and concern to the client and increasing the helper’s awareness of the client’s ability to pay attention. Attending behaviors also allow the helper to modify helping behaviors to work effectively with clients who may be racially, culturally, or sexually different.

Name calling

One certain way to shut clients down is to offend them. Calling a client derogatory names — i.e. a phony, having a flight of ideas – is not only offensive and unprofessional, but it also puts a client into defensive position and less likely to open up and accept your help.

Television shows such as Dr. Phil (Dr. Phil McGraw) are often viewed as “Reality Therapy” when in fact these types of shows are produced for entertainment purposes, not as therapeutic interventions. Dr. Phil often uses words and phrases when interacting with his onstage “clients” which counseling professionals would find derogatory or downright hurtful to actual clients. Dr. Phil engages with his onstage clients in such a way as to produce moments of entertainment. This technique of “poking” clients to elicit responses is not effective in actual counseling or therapy.

People use certain behaviors that are proven to keep them emotionally safe. Being “flighty” and rationalizing can be seen as defense mechanisms allowing a client to avoid that which she or he does not want to deal with. There will be times where you will see it and want to barrel through the client’s defenses to help the client. This seldom works. Sometimes the more you try to tackle the defenses, the more bizarre the client’s behaviors become. When we work with clients we can utilize client’s defenses much like ‘the spoonful of sugar.” Going under and around defenses allows clients to deal with their issues while still feeling safe.

References:

• Woodside, Marianne R., McClam, Tricia (2009), An Introduction to Human Services, (6^thed.). Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
• Egan, Gerard, (2009), The Skilled Helper: A problem-Management and Opportunity-Development Approach to Helping, (9^th ed.). Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
• Ivey, Allen E., Ivey, Mary Bradford, Zalaquett, Carlos P. (2010), Intentional Interviewing and Counseling: Facilitating Client Development in a Multicultural Society, (7^th ed.). Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

Answer Preview…………….

Family Intervention – Outline

Thesis statement: Therapy is one of the greatest forms of intervention. Therapy can be a helpful intervention or turn out to be sand in your mouth. The outcome is mainly determined by the therapist.

1. Introduction

2. Therapist & Client behavio…..

APA 1064 words