Counseling Why Do You Think the Preventative

Counseling

Why do you think the preventative therapy approaches have not reduced the divorce rate?

There are several reasons for the overall ineffective nature of preventative therapies when attempting to decrease the divorce rate. Primarily there are the inherent biases that exist in a therapy session, such as hypothesis conformation bias where the interviewer may seek to elicit responses that confirm his or her hypothesis. There are also self-fulfilling prophecies that cause the client to alter thoughts or actions to align with the expectations of the interviewer. Many clients are also not as motivated as others and this may lead them to provide inaccurate or false responses. All of these issues may contribute to the therapy being less effective than it could be.

2.Describe one of the approaches to marriage/couple therapy discussed in chapter 8?

Integrative behavioral couple therapy consists of two separate phases: the evaluation/feedback stage and the active treatment phase. During the first phase the interviewer will attempt to discover why the couple has sought therapy and obtain a brief history of the relationship. The couple actively participates in the feedback during this phase. Once the couple has agreed that the chosen therapy seems right for them, the treatment phase will actively begin. This phase will involve the therapist opening up lines of communication and teaching the couple alternate ways of interacting.

3.How infidelity and divorce addressed by marriage/family therapist?

The approach used by the therapist depends upon the specific therapy approach that has been chosen. However, regardless of the approach the basic methods still include clarifying and examining the issues that led to the affair and then addressing the problems that are uncovered. The therapist must refrain from judging the person who has had an affair or is considering divorce and must also not sway the couple in either direction. Honesty and the avoidance of secrecy must be encouraged at all times.

4.Describe the premise of family therapy from a psychodynamic perspective? Include techniques and role of therapist.

Rather than focus on a specific person, family therapy involves the group as a whole and tries to change the environment in which each individual exists to benefit the entire family unit. This means that understanding and communication between the individual members must be improved upon to keep the family from using one particular member as a scapegoat for the entire family's problems. Usually the problems are seen to derive from issues with a previous generation within the family. One of the most important tools a therapist has is transferential interpretation made among family members that can help to understand problems that are intergenerational.

5.Describe the premise of Bowen Family therapy approach? Include techniques and role of the therapist.

Bowen believed that patterns developed in families to alleviate anxiety, usually from either too much closeness or too much distance in relationships. A state of chronic anxiety can develop when members of the family cannot think through their responses to relationship problems. The therapist must defuse anxiety by making the family aware of how the emotional system functions and increasing levels of differentiation, including changing the self as opposed to trying to change others.