Applied Structural Family Therapy

Psychology -- Counseling -- Structural Family Therapy Model "Juno" is a refreshingly nonjudgmental look at teenage pregnancy and a family's ultimately positive, supportive response. Addressing the situation from a systematic therapeutic perspective, the counselor can accept Juno, her family and the adoptive family as they are and help them reach their agreed upon goals. The movie's portrayal of a teenager's situation that is normally deemed problematic in a positive human light makes the happy outcome of this film readily achievable and believable.

Juno "Juno" (Reitman, 2007) is a film about teenage pregnancy, an aspect of life that frequently positively and negatively confronts modern American families. When 16-year-old Juno irresponsibly becomes unexpectedly pregnant by her teenaged best friend, Bleek, she decides against abortion and chooses to give the baby to an as-yet-unknown infertile couple. When she tells her father and stepmother, they are initially rattled but quickly become supportive because after all, they are a successful, resilient family.

The couple she finds in the PennySaver, the Lorings, are initially happy but as the movie progresses, the husband reveals that he is interested in Juno but not interested in having a baby. After struggling with her emotions for Mr. Loring, Juno watches the Loring marriage disintegrate as he leaves his wife. Juno leaves a note at their door. Juno ultimately teams up with Paulie, another teenager, and gives birth to a baby boy, who Mrs. Loring plans to adopt as a single mother.

On the baby's nursery wall is Juno's framed note: "Vanessa: If you're still in, I'm still in. - Juno." (Reitman, 2007). The film is a refreshing, positive approach to family dynamics and goals addressing a pressing issue and achieving a positive outcome. 2. Analyze the family dynamics portrayed in the video and apply at least 4 concepts from the list of assessment concepts provided below.

Write a brief essay giving specific examples to illustrate each chosen concept: Juno goes through various stages of development in the film, also straddling several familial stages of development (Gehart, 2014, p. 85): from irresponsible adolescent, to an expectant mother with budding realizations about a new baby's needs, to an increasingly appreciative observer of and participant in her families strength (Gehart, 2014, p. 48), support and resiliency, to an ultimately responsible young woman. The difficulties she must negotiate are made far easier by the ready coalition (Gehart, 2014, p.

95) formed by her family, particularly her father and stepmother, who unite with her to bring a healthy baby into the world and place him with a responsible parent. In the course of the film, she crosses several boundaries (Gehart, 2014, p. 110) by her actions, including unprotected teenage sex, unwanted pregnancy and potential marriage wrecker who ultimately rejects that role. Though she toys with a possible home-wrecker role, she opts out of that role due to an additional coalition with the eventual adoptive mother. Despite the difficulties in their paths, Mrs.

Loring and Juno unite to place the baby in safe, willing, capable hands. 3. Address how cultural/diversity concepts apply to the assessment of the family(ies) in this movie? Cultural/diversity concepts apply to the assessment of the families in this film in several ways. Juno's cultural orientation is a middle class hybrid family of full-blood father and stepmother in middle class America.

There is noticeable dissonance between Juno's behavior in becoming unwittingly pregnant by unprotected teenaged sex and her parents' values, as shown by their initial upset at the news of her pregnancy. Nevertheless, their shared values eventually shine through as the parents support Juno in a responsible pregnancy, giving birth to a healthy baby and placing the child in the hands of a willing, capable adoptive mother. Cultural/diversity concepts also apply to assessing the Loring family: while they initially outwardly seem to share values, the dissonance between Mr.

Loring's suppressed love of Goth music and culture vs. Mrs. Loring's more staid, mainstream approach to life and adoption become glaringly apparent in the course of the movie. Furthermore, Mr. Loring's willingness to sexually stray with Juno and leave his wife is quite discordant, as is Juno's temporary willingness to explore the idea; nevertheless, Juno's cultural values ultimately coincide with those of Mrs. Loring, as they form a loving coalition for the child's birth and adoption. 4. Address what makes this model systemic.

Reflect on the concepts from systems-based approach and how they apply to the structural family therapy model. The model of Juno's family is systemic (Gehart, 2014) in that the family is treated in context regarding their relational interactions, patterns and dynamics, as well as the family's agreed upon goals. Rather than regarding Juno as an isolated problematic pregnant teenager, when she is considered in the context of her family, the therapist is better able to assess her situation and possibilities (Gerhart, 2011).

Furthermore, instead of viewing her situation as a problem to be solved by imposing therapeutic solutions to change her family or "the problem," the systemic approach is a more human way of honoring her and her family's situation to realistically help them toward their shared goals (Gerhart, 2011). Here, Juno is taken in context (Chenail, 2009) as a teenaged child of her full-blood father and stepmother who was raised and is living as a middle-class child.

She has acted against the family values in that she had unprotected teenaged sex and became unwillingly pregnant as a result. Her family's initially unsettled reaction to the news of her pregnancy shows that dissonance. Nevertheless, she is fortunate to be within a family that is ultimately strong, supportive and resilient.

She has already decided to give up the child to a worthy, unknown barren couple when she informs her parents; nevertheless, their strength and supportive approach lead them to ultimately share her goal, adopt it as their own, and help her achieve those goals of having a healthy child and placing him with another loving parent. C. Conclusion "Juno" presents teenage pregnancy, an event that can have a positive or negative outcome, depending on the family and its approach to the event.

When 16-year-old Juno irresponsibly becomes unexpectedly pregnant by her teenaged best friend, Bleek, and tells her father and stepmother of.