The purpose of this essay is to reflect upon a simulated experience of working clinically with a family. The essay will include an overview of the therapeutic session and a brief analysis of the issues raised, considering relevant theory. I will identify the skills used as a family counsellor, including an evaluation, and areas for improvement of the skills used. The essay will be supported with relevant academic literature, linking ideas to theory, as discussed in class.
Session Overview
Attending family members: Jen, Max, Sienna. Jen and Max have come to counselling as they are experiencing difficulties with their daughter Sienna, aged thirteen. Jen is a nurse who works shifts and Max is currently unemployed, as he was made redundant in rather unfortunate circumstances at his last job as a truck driver. After initial introductions, Jen took the lead and outlined the family issues that they would like to discuss. She said that they would like to send Sienna to a new school because they are concerned with her academic progress and Sienna’s insistence on staying up late every night playing computer games. As counsellor, I invited Max and Sienna to comment on Jen’s statement. Max said that he leaves the decisions to Jen to make, saying, “I’ve got too much on my plate right now.” Sienna commented that she is not interested in going to a new school as she will not have any friends. She added that she enjoys playing the computer game, ‘fortnight’ to relieve her boredom. Sienna added that she is sick of being compared to her older brother Jacob, who, she says “can do no wrong” in her parents’ eyes. Jacob is about to leave the family home to live in residence at university. Jen complains that, despite Max being at home, nothing gets done and the place looks like a bomb has hit it. Max says that he has lost all motivation and that, in any event, he needs to focus on finding another job.
Analysis of Issues
Sienna is a second born child and feels that she is constantly being compared to her older sibling Jacob; and is not being heard by her parents. According to Alder’s theory, the birth order of an individual affects their later behaviour and states that a second child may be driven by rivalry and competition (Corey, 2009, p.103). According to Satir’s human validation process model, Sienna plays the role of The Irrelevant, by distracting others and not relating to family processes (Sharf, 2008). Max could be depressed, due to his recent redundancy and is experiencing feelings of hopelessness and anxiety around his role as head of the family and the traditional breadwinner (Benson & Ritter, 2012). This pressure point could have weakened the family structure and, according to systems theory; the way in which the family is responding shows whether the family system can maintain its equilibrium (Bowes & Watson, 2004). According to Bowen, “a two-person emotional system, under stress, will recruit a third person into the system to lower the intensity and the anxiety and gain stability” (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2008, p. 473). This is demonstrated in Jen and Max’s relationship which is currently under stress. The situation with Sienna is providing a brief respite from the problems that Jen and Max are facing, however, this will require additional counselling to undercover root causes and for the counsellor to provide an alternative lens through which to view their problems.
Counselling Skills Used
As family counsellor, I used basic counselling skills of active listening, building rapport, paraphrasing, reflecting, summarising and using an empathetic approach that is neutral. I used positive, open body language and invited each family member to speak in turn; returning to a family member if I felt he/she was not being heard and asked them to repeat their perspective and how they were feeling.
Demonstrated counselling skills. The counsellor displayed a friendly, warm introduction, building rapport and using positive body language to focus on each family member in turn. As a counsellor, I used the following opening introduction, “Hello everybody and welcome to family counselling. I’m Sally, and it’s a pleasure to meet you all.” Building rapport with Sienna was important to gain her trust and to encourage her to participate. This was demonstrated by, “Sienna, you like music? What’s your favourite band?” Throughout the session, I used open ended questions and encouraged each family member to participate. I responded with active listening, paraphrasing and summarising techniques, for example, “What I’m hearing is that Jen, you are feeling frustrated that nobody is helping you around the house. Is that correct?” To close the counselling session, I summarised the main points of the session and concluded, “We’ve now come to the end of the session and I think it would be great for us all to meet again next week to discuss some of the key points in greater detail and to see if we can come up with any solutions. How does that sound?”
Debrief
Reflecting upon the role of counsellor in this simulated family counselling session, The session could have run a little longer with the use of more reflection on the issues identified. This would give each participant a little longer to reflect and time to disclose any further comments, if they wish to do so. More circular questioning techniques could be utilised. For example, “Jen, when you become frustrated that nobody is helping you around the house, what do Max and the other siblings do in response to this?” “Sienna you say that you enjoy playing computer games until late into the night; how does this affect your studies?” Circular questions are designed to shift clients from thinking about individuals and linear causality towards reciprocity and interdependence (Nichols, 2014, p. 123).
Conclusion
The first session of family counselling for simulated clients, Jen, Max and Sienna went relatively well and each family member was able to speak their opinion and viewpoint of the situation discussed. There was no outcome as it was decided to continue with another therapy session to discuss the key points in greater detail. This simulated counselling session provided an opportunity for students to case conceptualise, apply skills and techniques and then to reflect upon the therapeutic experience. As a counselling student, it gave me the opportunity to join with each family member, listen to each member’s view of the problem, respond with empathy whilst taking a neutral position to provide a summary at the end of the session.
References
Anderson, S. A., & Sabatelli, R. M. (2007). Family interaction: A multigenerational developmental perspective (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Benson, D., E., & Ritter, C. (2012) Belief in a Just World, Job Loss, and Depression. Journal Sociological Focus, v23 (1), p.49-63. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00380237.1992.10570553
Bowes, J. (Ed.), Children, families and communities (2nd ed.). Published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia.
Corey, G. (2009). Theories and practice of counselling and psychotherapy (8th ed.). Published by Thomson Higher Education, California, USA.
Goldenberg, H. and Goldenberg, I. (2008). Family Therapy: An Overview (7th ed.). Published by Brooks/Cole, California, USA.
Nichols, M., P. (2014). Strategic Family Therapy (10th ed.). Published by Pearson Education Limited, UK.
Sharf, R. S. (2008). Theories of psychotherapy and counselling (4th ed.). Published by Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, California, USA.