The Williams: A Case Study

Family Members:

Allan Williams: Father / Husband, 40 years old

Sheila Williams: Mother / Wife, 35 years old

James Williams: Son, 8 years old

Jane Williams: Daughter, 3 years old

Mr. Williams is a Mexican migrant who has settled in the United States for more than 11 years. He shifted to the U.S to live the American dream and has worked hard towards having a good life for himself and his family. Williams is a working-class household who lived in Arizona for the past 8 years but recently shifted to California.

Sheila

In recent months, Sheila has been exceedingly unhappy with her marriage. She complains that Allan works too much and barely has any time for their intimate relationships. Sheila asserts that Allan has not taken him out for a long time, and three weeks ago, he even forgot that it was her birthday. Sheila has tried to be as romantic as much as possible, but Allan constantly says he is either busy or tired and needs to rest. She has tried to talk to Allan, but things have not changed. She feels as though her marriage is on the verge of ending, and she does not know what to do.

The past few months, I have been living with someone else who is not my husband. He does not care about me anymore and does not cater to my emotional and physical needs. Once he gets home, all he wants is a beer, watch television, and sleep. I have tried to beseech him to go out on dates, but he says he is tired. The more I urge him to pay attention to our relationship, the more he becomes angry. The kids have seen and heard us fighting in recent weeks. At this point, I just want to pack, take my kids, and leave.

Of late, Sheila has been stepping out to meet with Arnold, a guy that she met at the supermarket. Arnold has been willing to take her on dates and spend time with her. Sheila thinks its innocent, but Arnolds objective is to sleep with her and prompt her to abandon her marriage. With Allan continuing to drift apart, Sheila likes Arnold even more and constantly thinks about him since they kissed.

Allan

Allan is a hardworking man whose desire is ensuring that the family is catered for in terms of the basic needs. His difficult childhood pushes him to constantly work harder to ensure that their household has food on the table. Since moving from Arizona to California and having a second child, the standard of living and expenses have gone up substantially higher. Consequently, Allan has been working all the time and has taken up two jobs. He loves his family and adores them and believes that everything is fine.

My family means the world to me. My wife, Sheila, is the best wife and mother. My children are adorable....

Akin to any other family out there, we do face our own challenges and have ups and downs, but so far, we have been able to pull through. The only issue that I have with Sheila is that she does not have enough. I work so hard to constantly provide, and I end up getting tired, but when I get home, she is constantly complaining. In recent weeks, she has been coming home late and leaving the children with a sitter. Perhaps she needs some alone time. James and Jane are complaining that their mother is leaving them alone, but I constantly assure them that, at times, adults need their alone time.

Allan makes the argument that his wife is constantly bugging him...

…measures that she could undertake to fix it. At the same time, Allan will be able to extensively explain to his wife why he works very long hours and why he is constantly tired. Sheila and Allan both need couples therapy to aid them in comprehending what is making their marriage fall apart and how they can rectify it. The best solution for Allan Williams is scaling back. This takes into account intentionally reducing his work hours and dedications to spend more time with his family and also being able to provide a buffer between work life and family life. This scaling back is recommended, especially for couples such as Allan and Sheila, who have young children at home, and the family demand is mostly intense. As a husband, Allan should make a mostly conscious decision to be more engaged in the family (Newman and Grauerholz, 2002).

Moreover, Allan and Sheila need to spend more time at home with their family to attend to their children. James needs to see a counselor to talk about his behavior and change. Allan and Sheila need to help James with rectifying his conduct and ensuring that he follows the right path. Through counseling and therapy, Williams should become a happy household.

Predictions for forthcoming years

I believe that through therapy and support, Williams should be able to overcome their problems. If Allan and Sheila choose to work on their relationship and remain together, counseling will prompt them to comprehensively communicate with one another, explain their underlying issues, and their problems with one another. This will generate increased understanding, intimacy, and also love and trust for each other. However, if these two opt for separation, it is recommended that they should remain cordial for the sake of the children and effective co-parenting. Counseling will also help James to…