structural and Strategic Family Therapy

structural and Strategic Family Therapy

According to Wheeler (2014), it is a must for the mental health provider to undertake intricate training that goes beyond standard education to help them attain aptitude in offering family therapies. On the sector of Adult practice registered nurse (APRN), the primary grounding begins with work experience plus following certifications. There are various notions and implementation that creates diverse approaches for multiple therapies. Several ideas and implementation make up different approaches to family therapy. The foundation of family therapy is by assessing a person’s issues in a controlled context. Family dysfunctions are as a result of the prevailing problems which calls for attention and successive solution.

In a family, if the current issues hurt multiple family members, family therapy becomes a need. The main principles of family therapies are that they are crucial and help the family members to lessen symptoms in dysfunctional families. Such therapies are referred to as structural and strategic family therapies (Wheeler, 2014).

The main aim of this paper is to point put the central goals of structural and strategic family therapy in ontrast to their strength and weaknesses. It involves A pictorial diagram showing an example of a family under structural family therapy. It will also show the proposed therapy form of family.

Structural Therapy

The term structure refers to the fundamental principle which influences the relationship between family members. Structural family therapy brings in ideologies from the construction, disconnected family, Parenting, union, partnership, boundaries, subsystems, and enmeshed family. (Wheeler, 2014). A disconnected family in a case where family members hold high-level sovereignty, which keeps them as independent parties away from the family union. Union is a situation where two or more members of a family create a relationship against each other. Subsystem is a kind of small family unit in a bigger family that plays unusual roles. The Enmeshed family members are more emotional and show it towards each other, which in return, intensifying their connection and affects the independent family members. Boundaries support individuality among family members in a psychological deterrent way. One of the main goals of structural family therapy is to create a working family union with definite rules. (Wheeler, 2014). Structural family therapy is broad, comfortable, and practical since it gives the parties a guide to regulate the indistinctness of their family. (Nichols, 2014). The only weakness in structural family therapy is that its effectiveness in handling adolescents is yet to be determined. (Jiménez, Hidalgo, Buena, León, & Lorene, 2019).

Strategic Therapy

According to Wheeler, 2014, Strategic family therapy brings in several principles such as feedback mechanism, circular casualty, family homeostasis, first-order modification, and second-order modification.

The feedback mechanism refers to the tactic of applying a feedback process to control a system. Circular casualty assumes that relationship issues happen in a loops manner, which is amplified by the execution of dysfunctional solutions; homeostasis is a state of complete balance. The use of feedback loops helps feeds information about the system. The First order changes are temporary behavioral changes, which are general and do not fix the main problem. On the other hand, the Second-order changes are complete changes that bring out adjustments in the functioning and family structure. The main strength of strategic family therapy is the use of commands to alter and change a malfunctioning family relationship. (Wheeler, 2014).

The only weakness of a family therapy comes up in a situation where a family faces a job, and they hope to get past the problems using a past solution technique. In such cases, expressive issues or more critical issues may arise, and the issues at hand may fail to function this time. As a result, family members may face symptom maintenance. Strategic therapy is persuasive and prompts adjustments in family members besides their help (Wheeler, 2014).

Structural Family Map

Gerlach (2015), explains that the most enlightened family members are easily able to solve issues via structural mapping, which involves predicting and talking about their family roots. Below is MS Johns’s family; Ms. John is a 40 years divorcee. She has two kids Ann and Tom, 15 and 10 years. They live in Michigan; MS john left his husband after going through domestic violence. Her husband would abuse her to an extent the police go involved. She filed for a restraining order, and the police gave it to her. Since she was given the restraining order, she has never communicated to her ex-husband.

Therapeutic Approach

For the MS john family, I would recommend structural family therapy. The reason why I chose this form of treatment is that Ms. John and the two kids are trying to adjust to a new life pattern. That is living without a husband and adapting to a new location. The family members in her family have a dysfunctional family. Therefore, family therapy would be best.

Conflict

Strong Connections Minimal/limited Connections

Strong Connection

Summary

Structural therapy and strategic family therapy are different forms of therapy but can easily be used together but do not rely the same characteristics. (Jiméne et al., 2019). They both work concurrently since they highlight great patterns and systems in relation to their functions. (Toma, Captari, & Toma, 2018). Both Structural and strategic therapies aim at the relationship and positioning of family members. Also, they seek to modify the family structure and indorse the total transformation of system transformation. The two therapies have an approach that says symptoms in various family members differ completely. Also, optimum transformation in the connected families is different. The main therapy elements are focused on availing a wide variety of Responses and the possibility to use the response in fixing family issues since the symptoms occur as a result of obstinate repetitive communication techniques (Toma et al., 2018).

A personalized assessment and

A well-developed assessment and clinical scrutiny of family ties of the individuals portraying the same problems are the resolution to an effective mediation (Toma et al., 2018). The entire family relationships and their unusual connection between different members are covered via the assessment and case invention (Toma et al., 2018).