Integrative Family Therapy Case Presentation

Family Systems Theory: Integrative Research Case Presentation

The family system in the west seems well entrenched and a closely knit unit. Yet, they are not without stigma. Their norms do not align with normative, ethical demeanor and there have been interventions to correct on various occasions. Irresponsible, Feckless and welfare scroungers are some of the adjectives they have often earned for their behavior. The interventionists have also tried to suggest families in the west through subtle messaging via various media forums like advertisements and articles in the magazines, films, TV; and also through measures like the decor at home reminding them about the expectations of a social life. (Dallos & Draper, 2013).

Such interventionists have also tried to spread their messages through professional networks too, making the expectations of the society known through various platforms. Family workers work in different ways to help the western families understand the importance of aligning with the modern society and its values. Many models seek to approach the percepts of these families. It is common knowledge that the general perception of families about their own systems is a vital ingredient while designing therapies and corrective measures. All the different models and systems developed by professionals working in these areas obviously have many similar concerns. These concerns are also well-known to the societies they are applied to and the expectations from the professional family workers are strong. Many of the concepts are already known; as a result, they are aware of what to expect and what they can demand as help (Dallos & Draper, 2013). This essay researches the Malfoy family in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows through an integrative approach (Heyman & Yates, 2010, 2011).

Assessment of the Malfoy family

Though they live under the same roof, the Malfoy's do not function as a normal family. There is a total disconnect within the family. Lucius Malfoy is the father, Narcissa Black Malfoy - the mother, and their only son, Draco Lucius Malfoy. The father- Lucius Malfoy is very strict and dominates all functions within the family. He is very demanding. He belongs to the upper crest in the society and is a pureblood of which very conscious and expects his son to emulate the behavior befitting a Death Eater. To that end, he goes as far as to abuse and torture his son, Draco, physically and psychologically. The chief of the circle of Death Eaters is Lord Voldemort and Lucius is in the coterie (Heyman & Yates, 2011).

The extended family on the mother, Narcissa side- She has two sisters, one Bellatrix Black Lestrange too married a pure blood like Narcissa whereas the third sister Andromeda Black Tonks married into Muggleborn family, a member of The Order of the Phoenix, which opposed and carried a tirade against Lord Voldemort. Whereas Bellatrix chose to become a Death Eater officially, Narcissa did not become one. Narcissa however supported the cause of her husband and by consequence the pure bold movement of Lord Voldemort. Narcissa cares about her family and chooses to express her concern to Lord Voldemort, albeit through subterfuge (Heyman & Yates, 2011).

Draco has turned into a bully while at school. He is very rude to fellow students who do not belong to the elite sections of the society and are not pure blood descendants like him. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he is known to be tormentor of all those who do not belong to his social status. His upbringing and affluent family background make him a vain. Also being the only child, he has inherited the power and vanity of an upper class and looks down upon others as inferior beings unfit of his (Heyman & Yates, 2011).

Intervention

Structural family therapy model

While treating through structural family therapy, families are viewed as interdependent subsystems that have their own independent workings. The subsystems comprise of grandparents' subsystem, parental/spousal subsystem, adult/child subsystem, siblings' subsystem, and an extended family subsystem (Dallos and Draper, 2013). Each subsystem has affectations on its own members and, is also influenced by the other sub-systems and its members too. There are defined parameters and properly demarcated roles that keep the family systems in place (Minuchin, 1974). The family members operate and take actions within the limitations and rights assigned by the demarcations. These emotional, psychological, and moral parameters and boundaries are crucial to the sustenance of the family structure in the western familial construct. It is the support structure that helps the family maintain its integrity from outside influences (Barker and Chang, 2013; Minuchin, 1974). These sub-systems formed by the tacit understanding within sub-systems and family members help them distinguish between outsiders and family members in times of crucial family gatherings, conflicts as well as other private functions and concerns (Avc? et al., 2015).

Families embrace changes as per demands of times and situations while keeping the basic structure and hierarchy intact. This helps them be sure of the roles of each member regarding decisions to be taken and the limitations one needs to exercise while facing concerns and issues that crop up inevitably from time to time. The responsibility of taking crucial decisions need to be well defined towards integrity of the family system according to Minuchin (1974). Salvador Minuchin and colleagues have stated that in the growing up stage children are best supported by a collaborative, concerted effort of parents and caregivers (Dallos & Draper, 2013)

Therapeutic orientations

In this kind of situation (that are not rare) a child gets drawn into a conflict arising out of differences between parents. It is often observed that the child is drawn into taking sides either in conflict situations or issues arising out of behavioral tendencies. This makes the child take up adult role temporarily inadvertently that may soon turn into a habit. Such a deposition is in contrast to the care and attention; his peers at home must give the child at his stage of life. Such developments are prone to create an imbalance in the family structure. Therapies advice that the boundaries within the family members and sub-systems they belong to are well formed and adhered to with discipline. The subsystems in family can be formed through members in the adult/children subsystem, parental/couple subsystem, the grandparent subsystem, the sibling subsystem, and other extended family members. The need for boundaries between sub-systems is vital for sustenance of the family construct. Transgressions are often observed in between generations, for example grand parents seeking to impose their wishes over the grandchildren that stand in the way of the parents' expectations of their children. The parents might seem to lose their authority over their children and hence their authority in such an instance (Dallos & Draper, 2013)

The concept of boundaries also needs to be understood well. The subsystems and members should not be too involved on one hand as in being indecipherable from each other (and thereby overriding their independence by interventions nor should they be so disengaged that it becomes difficult for each to access others whenever need arises, implying that boundaries within sub-systems need to be flexible and afford considerate space (Minuchin,1974). A very common example is when parents keep speaking for the child and thereby imposing their own thoughts as the child's own even if the child has differing opinions on the same issues or situations. Disengagement in the family relations could cause discord inadvertently; one's actions or sayings could hurt or belittle other's stature. This would imply that there is a disconnect of feelings amongst the members of the family which could hurt the family as a whole in times of crisis when the family members need to stand by each other to thwart the disruption. Each member could take an independent stance without taking into others' the feelings (Dallos & Draper, 2013)

The discussed situations are polar opposites but have the same end result- that of inability to function effectively as a unit in the face of external pressures. Each member starts showing symptoms of change in the organizational structure of the family. Once the organizational order is restored, the individual workers start acting in cohesion instead of against each other that leads to the common goal of welfare and well-being of the child, for example. Given such familial support helps the child to ward off ungainly symptoms consequently. Suitable and favorable organizational changes thus help members of the family to evolve wholly and mature in a more cogent manner (Tanner-Smith et al., 2013).

There are certain assumptions about family structure that lead to it being stable in the percept of therapeutic orientation. In certain unbalanced systems the affectations may not be apparently visible until late critical situations arise. The family may falter when coping with as late as his/her adolescent stage or even later. For example, when the child needs to make an independent living, the individual may find it difficult to adjust to conditions. Till such times, even triangulation (a situation where the child is drawn apart by parents' affectations) the family may mange to control the situation. The family should be able to make space for the growing years of child at home. There are psychological and biological changes taking place that need understanding and care. All the members of the family must adjust and accommodate to these changes which will help the child mature smoothly. Triangulation is undesirable during these periods. Cultural and moral definitions of the family in which families operate may change the structure accordingly and no strict rules may be set towards normative family structures. However, the least denominators should allow for healthy development of a growing child (Dallos & Draper, 2013).

Directive stance

Enactment

Therapists might use the tool of practical enactment to unearth the root cause and family disposition, structural problems behind a members' symptomatic behavior. If a child displays an aversion to food, anorexia, the family would be asked to discuss the issue on the dinner table while dining at home as against solely discussing the problem in the professional's chamber (Minuchin, 1974). As all family members have lunch together, the specific interactions between the parents and the child can be observed closely and critically. The parents may not be able to communicate considerately and effectively with the erring child. Alternatively, the child may be exhibiting defiance to triangulation caused by conflicts between parents. The child may also be expressing her independence through not in falling in line with her parents' wishes. Thus enactment provides the chance to unravel the causes of symptomatic behavior and hence lead to proper corrective actions and suggestions (Dallos & Draper, 2013).

Unbalancing

Under this therapy method, the therapist tries to correct the situation in an inverted way. In family conflicts the parents often posit against each other and one of them might try to make the impression on the therapist that the other is being insensitive and uncaring. The therapist using this method of unbalancing might lure the unsuspecting parent to talk more and then having accumulated more venom might turn the tables abruptly and break the repetitive cycle of accusations by taking any particular parents' side (Dallos & Draper, 2013).

Strategic therapy model

Milton Erickson is credited with developing many strategies in the construct of family therapy. Some of these are specific techniques and others include deployment of hypnotherapy (Haley, 1973). Erickson worked in familial as well as sub-systems of families' structure. Families, he observed find it difficult to cope with major transitions in family structure like a birth in the family or a child seeking his own independent existence for making a living or finding a mate. The difficulty of the family to accommodate to such changes can cause difficulties to the child in question. 'Weaning parents from child' is the phrase Erickson uses to explain the situation when a growing adult seeks to express his independence. Such situations generally occur when parents need to have a child's support to resolve their own relationship troubles. The therapist might then work individually with the adolescent to help him be stronger in asserting his independence. This, may not be welcomed by the parents and the therapy may be derailed (or even aborted) if the parents find that the child starts becoming assertive and is not giving in to their wishes (Dallos & Draper, 2013).

Theoretical background

Therapeutic models accessing this mode overlap with those in behavioral dimensions of humans. Family members are generally not aware of the affectations their own behavior has on others. The affected individuals may also not know that they are reacting to others' actions and behaviors. Here, the basic notion is of strategic influences. All individuals, including family members and therapists alike are strategists. They expect a certain reaction to their own actions in as much each one of us make predictions or anticipate the reaction of the individual in question and hence act in a particular response to elicit a required response. That is fundamental to our decision making about others and ourselves (Dallos & Draper, 2013)

This behavioral aspect is also in a way expression of independence of an individual. All individuals want to be in control of their lives and take decisions on their own, in short, they do not want to be controlled by others. That is one of the basic aims when an individual approaches a therapist for help. The therapist has to recognize the salient features the client faces in his dilemma through this angle and develop a strategy to seek corrective action and result (Dallos & Draper, 2013)

Diagnosis

The main aim of the therapist should be on sorting out the inadequacies in interactions, an unhealthy family organization and subsystems and their boundaries. The therapist has to get the natural tendencies of the family members and must hence create an atmosphere where the members feel free to express themselves. Such inputs are vital to creating a therapeutic model (Mojta et al., 2014). Once an understanding of the family is understood fully, the therapist can understand the facets of the family responsible for the issues they now face. The dimensions of family interactions appear on five different levels through which a diagnosis of the problem is understood: Identified patient, developmental stage, resonance, structure, and conflict resolution (Mojta et al., 2014). While 'Diagnosing' the therapist tries to evaluate the collective behavior of the family and its influence on the individual under scrutiny. The therapist has to take into consideration factors like protective factors, social risk, and individual risk while analyzing the different levels of interactions within the family that is consequential to the issue at hand. In diagnosing the problem the therapist arms himself with flexibility to adapt to social conditions that vary a lot (Lindstrom et al., 2013).

Restructuring

This is a corrective action seeking to address the issues faced by the family in coming to terms with the difficulties. The stages and components involved here are: 'reframing' 'working in the present', and 'working with boundaries and alliances' (Lindstrom et al., 2013).

'Working in the present', focuses on the interaction amongst family members. The focus of this stage is on the status of the interaction pervading within the family. There is a distinction between the content and the process in this stage (Lindstrom et al., 2013).

'Reframing', is the process through which the inadequacy in family structure is corrected and smoothens the family interactions. In this stage, the therapist reframes the perspectives of the members of the family. The therapist might also alter imbalance in the gender orientation and dominance in the family if found disruptive (Lindstrom et al., 2013).

'Working with boundaries and alliances'. In families where the youngsters are prone, (to drug use) the parents have to form the strong sub-system, which can exercise authority and can take critical decisions jointly. The therapists need to identify any weakness in the parental structure and hence attend to it (Lindstrom et al., 2013). In extreme cases, the therapist might need to assure freedom, privacy and independence to members within the family by drawing considerate boundaries apropos gender, age and developmental stage as required of the sub-systems and its healthy functioning.

Duration and setting

For the Malfoy's, the Strategic family therapy would not differ much from what is applied to other such cases. The session duration would last 12-16 sessions. An inherent feature is that the therapy would be flexible to adapt to specific needs of the family. The sessions will be conducted in different settings, to suit the conditions (Lindstrom et al., 2013).

Treatment plan

Motivation is vital while seeking positive outcomes of a therapy (Lindstrom et al., 2013). It also influences the family interactions and family systems. Such changes in the interactions within the family help to diminish the intensity of the problem, which in turn is crucial for the therapist to infuse restorative measures.

Systemic family therapy model

Systemic therapy is a combination of intensive family therapy and empowering the professionals to deal on individual level. Professionals are made aware of the recurring interactive influences that cause issues and problems in familial and societal domains (Barker & Chang, 2013). Systemic therapies make use of strengthening the family system and individual dispositions in trying to rectify the disruptive elements that threaten and harm family balance. These therapeutic methods help the families to see their problems in new light, which can help them appreciate problems and become self-sufficient to attend to disruptions. Thus able, they can keep a track of the situations and developments as they unfold and be in control of happenings that concern the family. Systemic therapy treatment course is spread over three to six months. It may involve sessions at different places of action like the home, school, workplace, and the like apart from the therapy center (Carr, 2014).

As a general practice, professionals working in this system do not entertain more than four or five cases at a time as they need to be in a position to provide on-call services, which may often appear as emergencies. They often provide round-the-clock services to their clients. The positive effects of systemic therapy treatment have been observed even after four years of the last session of the therapy. This methodology has been observed to have more beneficial effects on families than on personal or peer relation improvement. According to Tanner-Smith et al. (2013), systemic family therapy is more beneficial than motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, psycho-education or individual and group counseling.

Therapist's role

In systemic therapy, the therapist has to make the client aware of the alternate way in which to view an individual and thereby understand their predicaments. In this methodology, the therapist views reality as the outcome of morals, culture, experiences, and actions of members of a family. The therapist aims to help the client and the family view the situation from a fresh perspective- differentiating a person and his actions. Thus, the therapist helps the family dissolve the difficulties and barriers that impede the growth of the family. A successful outcome would be a situation where the family starts exercising control over the family instead of the problem controlling the family (Mojta et al., 2014; Cottam, n.d.).

The therapist should aim at finding out if the Malfoy's carry feelings of guilt and shame about their involvement in the Second Wizarding war. The Malfoy family faces many risk factors that can prove impediment to growth of the family as a whole. However, Narcissa's resolution to save her family from trouble is a positive in the context. Also, Draco has started distancing himself from the Death Eaters after realizing their true intentions and the way they operate (Heyman & Yates, 2011). The methodology used for treating the Malfoy's should be able to dissuade them from the ungainly behavioral pattern that may disrupt the family. As such the Systemic Theoretical approach will be helpful. In the present situation forgiveness and reconciliation as a family is a very difficult premise. People tend to look and a person and cannot differentiate between the person and his behavior. (Barker & Chang, 2013; Cottam, n.d.).

Family's Life Cycle

The Malfoy family was in transition stage. They had teenagers whose freedom needed to be full expression and at the same time needing to understand the responsibilities of their actions and decisions. The parents needed to exercise an understanding of the energy the teenagers in the family carried. The connect and balance between the two generations was a vital premise. The Malfoy's, is a mixed family with many individuals' behavior, attitude and concerns overlapping and influencing each other in many ways. Lucius seeks to exercise his control and authority over Narcissa and Draco's behavior and conduct. Draco is not sure he wants to follow Lucius's diktats and makes his concern known, but Lucius seems unrelenting of his desire for Draco to be a death eater. Lucius is power hungry and seeks more authority at the cost of riskier outcomes. The normative adolescent behavior of Narcissa and Draco seems to be missing. Their expected independent expressive ways are hampered by their proximity with Voldemort and his band of followers who have questionable antecedents. The group led by Voldemort is no longer socially acceptable as most of the members are behind bars or have been killed. It is disreputable to be around with or to be associated with them (Cottam, n.d.).