Couples and Family Therapy

1. Legal and ethical considerations regarding the family circumstances
The man, hit the woman a couple of times because a man called her. He is on probation and was referred by his probation officer. He needs to handle his temper because if he does not and is arrested again or gets in trouble with the law in any way, he could go to jail. Being on probation keeps people in a position where anything could lead to bigger trouble with the law.

2. Multicultural considerations
The client is an African American male. African American males in the United States have experienced unfair treatment by law enforcement in the form of racial profiling and institutionalized racism. Because of this, this population may experience more stress and lower self-esteem that can lead to anger control issues (Chao, Longo, Wang, Dasgupta, & Fear, 2014) He is 21 years-old and stated he is ‘always at the wrong place at the wrong time’. This could mean that he may be involved with people that are in some way connected to crime.

3. Identify any family life cycle considerations
Although the man is not married, he may have plans to begin a family with his girlfriend and become married. This means it is in the beginning stages of the family life cycle. Such considerations would include identifying any pre-existing plans. How these plans could be affected by actions like being arrested and physical abuse.

4. Theoretical counseling model you would use in the case with rationale
Because the person selected is by himself and receiving therapy for his anger, the selected treatment would be Dialectical behavior therapy. “Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a promising treatment for reducing anger and violent behavior. This mode of therapy addresses maladaptive behavior by teaching emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, core mindfulness, and self-management skills” (Frazier & Vela, 2014, p. 156). This model is specifically for people with anger issues and helps individuals regular their emotions as well as improve self-management skills. People often with anger issues cannot self-regulate properly especially when under stress.

5. Specific issues facing the family
The family is comprised of two adults: one woman and one man. They are in a relationship but not married. The man became very jealous when identifying a possibility of another man talking to his girlfriend. He freaked out, hit her multiple times and then was arrested. Now that he is on probation, if he lets his anger control him again, he will be faced with the idea of prison due to potential violation of probation.

6. Assessment techniques you would use in the case with rationale
Genograms have been used to get an understanding of family history and relationships. Sometimes anger control issues can come from problems related to relatives. For example, if a child is physically abused, that child may become an abuser. By allowing the man to show his relationships with his family and discussing what each one means to him, perhaps a better understanding can result. The information taken can then be used to help the man deal with his anger by acknowledging potential root causes.

7. Intervention plan for the family
The man will be exposed to dialectical behavior therapy sessions. Meaning, the man will be given a chance to identify and alter negative thinking patterns. For example, he is suspicious of his girlfriend and believes she is cheating. The potential negative thinking pattern could be he is not worthy of love and does not trust anyone. This could be identified and discover ways to deal with changing such beliefs.

8. Research (at least five references) that support your intervention plan
Dialectical behavior therapy is a cognitive behavioral approach discovered in 1980 (Miller, Carnesale, & Courtney, 2014) (McKay & Wood, 2011). Proponents of the intervention feel this kind of strategy can be effective as standalone treatment for anger control issues. “Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training is currently being administered as stand-alone treatment across a variety of clinical settings, serving diverse client populations” (Valentine, Bankoff, Poulin, Reidler, & Pantalone, 2014, p. 1). Dialectical behavior therapy seems to prove effective in programs, reducing levels of aggression in participants (Tomlinson & Hoaken, 2017, p. 215). Dilaectical behavior therapy seems to also improve experiential avoidance and expression of anger (Neacsiu, Lungu, Harned, Rizvi, & Linehan, 2014.

9. Prognosis for the family
It seems that people who engage in therapy, especially therapy that allows the person to become aware of his or her core-problems can be beneficial in improving self-regulation. The main problem with the man is limited self-regulation. However, if he becomes aware of what makes him mad, how to relax, and how to communicate with others, he will have less of a problem dealing with his anger.

10. A reflection on your learning experience in this course and your preparedness for working as a marriage, couple, and family counselor.
There are many things that are pertinent when it comes to addressing the individual and joint needs of families and couples. To work as a marriage, couple, and family counselor means to understand the needs of individuals within a relationship. That involves communication and promoting communication amongst the clients. This can often be complicated due to people’s own history with each other and the medical history of each person. For example, one person can have depression and the other can be dealing with a chronic health problem like arthritis. These are things to look out for when examining ways to help clients in these settings.