Family Counseling Approach

Family Counseling Approach
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract
Family counseling remains a challenge in various constructs bearing the variations in families. No two families are similar. As such, familial problems vary both from individual and collective lenses. The family systems theory tends to challenge the analogy on family variations by insisting on emotions as binding factors in families. This paper assesses Bowen’s family systems theory (FST) through its key components, including leading figures, assumptions, key concepts, and techniques. The family systems theory approaches family counseling through its key concepts, including societal emotional process, emotional cutoff, sibling position, family projection process, differentiation of self, and triangles. The individual concepts mirror particular challenges that families face and how to deconstruct the familial problems in therapy. The inputs of FST create an insight into other avenues towards addressing family therapies besides the prevalent focus on behaviors in other contemporary theories such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
Keywords: Family systems, emotional cutoff, sibling position, family projection process, differentiation of self, and triangles.
Family Counseling Approach
Family relationships are very complex, making them difficult to address effectively in psychotherapy. No families are exactly alike as family members showcase unique behaviors in different circumstances. Families also develop in different settings, making it difficult for two distinct families to manifest the same perceptions about various socio-economic, cultural, or emotional factors. To that extent, psychotherapists are encouraged to be versed with multiple approaches in addressing family needs. In this paper, emphasis is geared towards Bowen’s family systems therapy model (FST). FST is one of the popular models used in contemporary family therapy sessions to address unique family needs. Understanding FST from its key components, including leading figures, assumptions, key concepts, and techniques, creates a platform for understanding this model through the lens of its viability to contemporary therapy needs and concerning other popular approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy in groups.
Leading Figures
The development of FST was simply bearing the number of people involved in the entire process. The only key figure in the development of FST was Murray Bowen. Bowen is a renowned psychiatrist in the 20th century who fueled the application of FST. Born in 1913, Bowen was the oldest child in a family of five children born in Waverly, Tennessee (Breakey, 2021). Bowen pursued his bachelor’s degree in science at the University of Tennessee and graduated in 1934. He would then extend his education in the same institution and received a medical degree in 1937. Bowen would then serve in the military and the Bellevue Hospital in New York before developing an interest in psychiatry (Breakey, 2021). Bowen extended his interest in psychiatry when he delved into family relationships while dealing with schizophrenic children. The motivation from the relationships with different families in his professional capacity steered Bowen into the need for a psychiatric model for his patients.
Development of the Theory/Historic Events
The development of FST was based on the motivation to create a more structured approach in dealing with family needs in therapy. Like other psychiatrists of his time, objectivity and emphasis on science marked the scope of development of the model (Jhadray et al., 2015). The time when Bowen practiced his medicine was majorly characterized by conventional diagnostic frameworks and pathological language that, according to Bowen, failed to match the needs of the patients. In his understanding, Bowen believed that every therapist has experienced some challenges with their families of origin (Sieverts, 2018). Such experiences, in Bowen’s understanding, should be vital in the therapists’ normalizing human behaviors. That is, from their personal experiences, therapists should be more meticulous while dealing with the needs of families.
Bowen’s theory took a progressive developmental approach to reach its application. The family systems theory was introduced in the late 1960s after Bowen had indulged in years of research in family patterns (Breakey, 2021). Bowen used his experience as a therapist for families with schizophrenic children to develop approaches that he believed were more necessary to the prevalent needs. According to Bowen, the traditional methods failed to address the vital tenets of family therapy. Traditionally, psychotherapy models relied on the inner psyche to generate relationship changes and other aspects of human life. Bowen disagreed with the tenets of such traditional models and focused on assessing structures and behaviors in understanding the broader relationship system (Sieverts, 2018). In his understanding, family structures and the ensuing behaviors played a vital role in the formation of character. Bowen would later argue that changes in the behaviors of one member of the family are likely to instill further changes in family functions over time. As such, families operate as one emotional unit in which a break in one aspect can lead to corresponding breaks in other aspects.
Basic Assumptions
FST is anchored on specific assumptions that influence its overall understanding. The theory principally operates on the understanding that family systems are whole and elements within them are organized (Sieverts, 2018). Families units must function as interdependent for they to befit the emotional standards set by FST. FST proponents also believe in circular rather than linear patterns in family structures (Jhadray et al., 2015). By being circular, FST argues that a change in one aspect of the family unit is likely to trigger more changes in the other aspects of the family unit. FST also argues that one aspect of change to a family member is more likely to trigger changes in the other functional units of that family. The third assumption in the family systems theory is that families maintain homeostasis, and changes affect them holistically. That is, families barely change and, if they change, the alterations are barely anchored on adjusting to the emerging needs (Smith-Acuna, 2011). Bearing the fact that there are continuous changes in family operating settings, FST proponents assert that families must showcase some changes over time. FST also assumes that members within a family are simultaneously members of other social subsystems (Breakey, 2021). Different social factors influence individual behaviors, something that FST takes into consideration while structuring its inputs. Ultimately, FST assumes that families have boundaries that are principally based on the inputs of subsystem interactions. The more family members interact with aspects of other subsystems, and they are highly likely to be influenced.
Key Concepts
Eight major theoretical concepts ground the application of family systems theory. The eight concepts are interconnected. To that effect, a therapist must understand all the individual concepts if they are to draw any meaning in the applications of the model. The concepts...