Marriage and Family therapy
Question 1
The critical aspects of the family include that they have recently migrated into the united states from Colombia. The family is facing difficulties in their quest to adapt to the new environment. The context of the problems could be viewed from various angles, including structural, cultural, and ecosystemic considerations. Concerning structural factors, the issues are minimal. However, as a result of the age difference between the girl and her parents, she finds it challenging to communicate to her parents about the problems she faces in ger new schools in a way that they would efficiently understand. The culture is associated with the factor of leaving their original cultures to which they are well vast to a new culture to which they have very minimal knowledge. The problem that they experience concerns the ability to adapt to the new culture. The exosystemic context of the issues is on being able to adjust to the unique ecosystem presented by the new environment and climatic conditions.
The mother and father are at the adult stage of their life cycle, and their middle marriage stage. The developmental challenge at this stage entails the difficulties faced in the attempt to make reasonable and rational decisions for the family. They also involve the challenges faced in the fulfillment of career goals and parental roles. Maria is at the adolescent stage of the life cycle. The challenges she experiences at this stage include the desire to maintain autonomy and individual identity. She faces the challenges of fitting in with her peers. The grandmother is at the later stage of her life cycle. At this stage, she is mainly troubled with ensuring that her family is fine. The younger siblings, Alena and Juanita, are at the early stage of their life cycles, they are not keen to notice much differences and consequently are not much troubled. The different family members may view the situation at different angles. The older family members, including the father and mother, may view it as necessary. Maria could view the situation as causing difficulty in getting along with her peers.
Question 2
The Capella university does not have restrictions on the courses that students should study for marriage family therapy. It, however, stresses that students will not be taking the classes they require for licensure until they have a bachelor’s degree. The minimal academic requirements include graduating in any field with a GPA of at least 3.0. Undergraduate majors that deal with marriage and family therapy are mainly majors in the fields of family science and family studies. The undergraduate preparation options for marriage and family therapy include behavioral science, family science, human development and family science, psychology, sociology, and social work.
The premaster fieldwork required for marriage and family therapy in the state of Minnesota includes a family and psychology concentration with a complete internship. The postmasters’ work required for licensure in Minnesota consists of the completion of requirements for associate licensure and passing of exams approved by the board. It also requires two endorsements with the culmination of at least two years of post-degree supervised experience as an MFT. It also requires a minimum of 4000 hours of experience, with 1000 for direct client contact and 500 with families or couples and 200 directly supervised.
Question 3
After reading the article by Jordan and Seponski, which elaborates that many of the therapists are uncomfortable to step into the political arena, I would also feel the same way in engaging in political activities. As a therapist, there is very minimal information on political factors and a lot of information on other individuals. It would be essential to avoid stepping into the political arena to save the reputations of possible opponents and prevent the disclosure of personal and confidential information.