Question

Post a brief description of your personal lens in treating couples and the theory you selected (either Bowenian or structural). Then, provide an explanation of one challenge you may encounter if you attempted to integrate the theory you selected with your lens of couples counseling in your professional practice. Then, explain how you might mitigate this challenge. Be specific.

Answer 1

There are different therapists involved for counseling of the couples. The different types of therapists include the structural family therapist and Bowenian therapist who are involved in the process of counseling. Bowenian therapist analyzes the formation of inner ego formation in families whereas the structural family person analyzes the formation of diffuse boundaries during the study of relation among the different family members with understanding of significance in life. There is understanding of the closeness or distance between the different families of relatives for effectively understanding the types of relationships encountered among the family people. Bowen family approach deeply understands the family emotions and the related factors required for the development of healthy work environment situations. There is affect on the thoughts, emotions and relations among the different family members which is evident due to the prevalent communication and interaction situation among different family members according to the environmental conditions. There is interaction among different family members for support and care required for maintaining the work-family environment balance in life. There is a reciprocal relationship due to the evident changes in the life of one person which brings about a change in the life of other person in the families. There is interdependence among different family persons which provides mutual support and understanding among the different family members. There should be effective communication, cohesiveness and interaction for the welfare of different family members for food, support and shelter among each other. There are conditions of anxiety and stress which can create problems in the development of healthy relationships in life among the family members. There are chances of suffering from different types of illness like depression, alcoholism, extra marital affairs or different forms of mental illness in life. The main goals and orientation factors required for the family counseling among the different family members are as follows like:

• spreading awareness and vigilance to reduce the levels of stress, anxiety and depression in families.
• there is focus on development and changing oneself according to the changes in the environment.
• There should be fusion among the different relationships among the family persons required for welfare and development.
• Understanding of triangles.
• Understanding of emotions and symptoms present in the child and other members due to the exposure to different environmental conditions.
• There are different kinds of relationships with different siblings which govern the development process of different family members.
• Transmission of characters from one generation to other through the genetic factors present in the human body after reproduction.
• It is especially important during conditions of couple conflict or the ill health of spouse which affects the different kinds of relationships prevalent among the family members.

The challenge which may be encountered during the process of counseling the patients during therapy if formation of triangulation in different relationships. It gets developed due to the formation of anxiety in dyad relationships which exist between different family members.

Structural therapy is used for the therapy of clients in situations of intake of banned substance abuse. There are various governing principles, rules and communication patterns between the different family members. There were various cases of domestic violence which were reported due to excessive intake of alcohol causing physical and mental harm to the person taking intake of alcohol. The family intervention programs proved to be helpful in reducing the amount of intake of alcohol with a much better mental and physical health of the patients after receiving the family structural therapy. Family therapy provides opportunity for the development of the analysis of different types of behavior of the clients undergoing that therapy which is useful for their mental and physical development. There is conjoint couples therapy which is useful for the understanding of the required parameters which led to the development of relationships among the different clients involved in formation of different kinds of behavior with each other. There are different multifamily groups which are involved in the treatment of different kinds of alcohol abuse disorders among the family members. Structural therapy analyzes the factors like hierarchy and intimacy required for accomplishing the different roles of family members for solving the problems pertaining to the development of different relationships. There is contextual family therapy which analyzes the unconscious factors which are transferred from one generation to another as generations get addicted to intake of banned drugs leading to mental degeneration in different families. The other types of therapy are network therapy and behavioral marital therapy for effectively dealing with the clients. These theories can be effectively put into practice for dealing with the problem of marital discord in family relationships. This can be effectively implemented for mitigating the different challenges.