** PLEASE TO NOTE THAT YOU HAVE FIND 5 OTHER ARTICLES INCLUDING THE REFERENCE BOOK CHAPTER ON BLENDED FAMILIES**
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE FAMILY LIFE CYCLE
WEEK # 11 -Assignment: Create a Developmentally Appropriate Intervention Program.
TOPIC: Blended Families-Finding Common Ground and Harmony.
The first step in this final assignment will be to select a developmental topic you which you want to create an intervention program.
TOPIC: Blended Families-Finding Common Ground and Harmony.
Then, find five or more additional peer review articles. Using these articles, the information you have learned throughout this course, and the information about the chosen therapeutic model,( BOWEN MODEL) develop an intervention program for the specific issue on which you chose to focus.
In your paper, be sure to address the following:
Identify the topic you have chosen, and then describe the issue that will be addressed.
Present the key points in the literature on the chosen topic: when providing the literature review, make sure to provide a concise summary of the key points. You are encouraged to synthesize the material and emphasize key findings, rather than providing a list of bullet points. Please do not summarize each reference individually, but integrate by idea and theme.
Describe the specific intervention that you are proposing, and then explain how it will be conducted. Base your interventions on a specific systemic model (the list of models is provided in the tenth week of this course) and incorporate any diversity-related aspects that might enhance and adapt your intervention to the chosen population.
To whom will the intervention be directed?
What developmental issues will it address?
What are the major components of the intervention and how are these supported by your literature review?
How will you determine if your intervention is effective? What outcomes will you see?
Be sure to provide an APA formatted reference list that includes all resources that you use in your paper. Your reference page will have at a minimum the five additional articles you will use in addition to the texts and articles that were provided in this course.
Your final intervention paper will be graded based on its creativity, literature support, practicality (is it useable?), and clarity of writing.
Length: 10 PAGES-DUE SUNDAY FEBRUARY, 21st, 2021
In this final section, you will utilize all the information you have learned in this course. The goal of the Signature Assignment is to demonstrate the ability to use all the information in a final comprehensive assignment. For the final assignment in the course, develop an intervention program that is theoretically and empirically sound and related to development (i.e., any of the topics studied in this course). For the final assignment, read and cite at least five peer-reviewed articles related to your chosen topic (they must be in addition to the ones already included in this course). For example, if you want to develop a program designed to facilitate developmentally-appropriate discipline with pre-school aged children, cite articles that support your suggested intervention and substantiate it as a worthwhile and logical intervention. The scope of your intervention should be narrow enough that you can effectively address the topic, the nature of the problem, what the literature says about how to address the problem, and your specific plan for intervention. The seven principles of effective parenting is too broad. One way to foster adult to adult connection with your parents, Letting go without losing each other: A ritual to start a new relationship with your children as they leave home, or Sharing control: A task to foster individual responsibility with adolescents, might be more feasible topics. Any topic throughout the course is available for this assignment, but the result must be a concise review of information and a specific intervention that you could use as a therapist with your clients. You are also encouraged to use the therapeutic model chosen in the tenth week of this course to complete this assignment.(BOWEN MODEL)(Blended Families-Finding Common Ground and Harmony.)
REFRENCES
McGoldrick, M., Carter, E. A., & Garcia-Preto, N. Expanded family life cycle: Individual, family, and social perspectivesBoston, MA: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.
THE FOLLOWING IS A SAMPLE ESSAY FORMAT-YOU MAY FOLLOW THE FORMAT . HOWEVER, PLEASE DO NOT COPY! PLEASE TO LOCATE 5 PEER RELATED JOURNAL ARTICLES TO SUPPORT THE ESSAY-USING THE BOWEN MODEL, ALONG WITH THE ABOVE REFERENCE.
TOPIC: BLENDED FAMILIES-A GOOD SOLUTION
McKinley Irving Family law states that 42% of first marriages end in divorce, 60% of second marriages end in divorce, and 70% of third marriages end in divorce in the United States which does not include separation. One can reasonably say that a large percentage of the American population will include blended families or stepfamilies based on current trends. As a result, a large percentage of divorce families involve children who can become problematic if a bond with the adults is not established. Also, many children and adults bring along baggage into their new families and surroundings that they have difficulties releasing or differentiating their problems.
Many mature and differentiated families may find stepfamilies tranquil to move into while other families transition may be difficult and can lead to yet another divorce. Men with substantial income tend to marry quicker than women who have a substantial income if these women decide to marry at all which leads in any case, not forming a healthy bond with each family member may become problematic. Blended families must also think about reinvesting into a new marriage and a new family and the anxiety and upsets that is inevitable. Couples who do not establish a secure bond or attachment may not be successful in their new relationships; however, there are interventions to assist families in normalizing the difficulties of their families to prevent divorce as well diminish the effects divorce has on children in blended families. This paper will discuss Solution-Focused Brief Therapy as a method to family talk to help blended families to understand the change in their family.
Divorce has a significant impact on children. Cherlin & McRae (1998) completed a study on the effects divorce have on children and found that the results have an adverse effect of divorce and its aftermath on adult mental health. Moreover, parental divorce during childhood or adolescence continues to have an adverse effect when a person is in his or her twenties and early thirties. However, Cherlin & McRae cannot prove the long term effects divorce has on mental health in advanced years. Children are connected to their parents as well as the environment they live in. When their environment is changed or upset the event is equivalent to a loss or death of a family that will change forever changed. Children are often shuffled back and forth from one home to the next; they may have to share space with step-siblings and become acquainted with a step parent. Small children hold to the belief that their parents love may rekindle when they witness co-parenting or attending school events or family gatherings. Because of the childs continued hope for reconnection, he or she may develop a form of anxiety or regress. In this matter, the best intervention is for both parents to create a daily routine for the child/children that is warm and loving in hopes of preventing fear and anxiety of the unknown.
For an older child such as an adolescent, the impact of divorce is significantly different but still can negatively impact the teen. Teenagers have a life outside of the home with friends, social activities, and schoolwork but they also face negative impacts of divorce. As the teen begins to spend more time outside of the home, he/she may feel that they can take care of their own needs and wellbeing and may become aggressive towards their parents. Parents should create a ritual for the teen so they can feel a continued connection as well as foster independence and warmth for their teen.
Hetherington EM (2003) discusses in her article three factors that make children vulnerable to divorce, how they adjust to divorce and the social factors that protect them or make them helpless to society negative stigmas. Like Cherlin, Hetherington also found that children who are affected by divorce compared to two family households display behaviors such as anxiety, resentment, anger, and school behavior that can impact their adult life. Both authors have implied that there are few to no longitudinal studies on the impact of divorce further into adult life; however, they both believe that it may trigger specific pathologies that may result in mental health issues.
Furthermore, divorce in American culture has negative connotations and even more negative effects if one is Catholic. One of the essential critical findings of Putnams article states that:
The Roman Catholic Church currently views marriage, as it did in the 16th century, as an insoluble, holy, bond; therefore, remarriage by either part constitutes bigamy or adultery
(Putnam 2011). For reasons such as this, many marriages remain in a state of unhappiness for fear of facing hells fiery furnace. Many of these couples may feel a need to remain married because the cost outweighs the benefits or there are many investments in the marriage. On the other hand, other faiths recognize separation as well as divorce as an individual choice that the church should not be involved. Besides, divorce is becoming more liberal in all faiths and religion although in some churches it is still frowned upon that families are separated. Another crucial critical point Putnam describes is remarriage after divorce.
Many of the individuals I have counseled through the turmoil of the divorce process over the years have chosen to remarry. In many of those cases, the subsequent marriages also ended in divorce. Mentally healthy individuals continue to pick the wrong mate which Putnam terms broken picker.
Are these individuals truly mentally healthy if they continue to choose the same relationship and foster the same problems? I beg the difference. The insanity of both individuals should be examined for psychologically difficulties unless the people involved functions well under chaos and upheaval.
Family dynamics are always changing whether it is through divorce or family issues but whatever the case, the problem will continue to fester if there is no intervention to address family concerns. Interventions such as family talk which is an intervention to help families discuss the family changes and understand the role each will have. Children and adolescents may feel that they are the reason their parents divorced or they may believe that change in the hemostasis is their fault. They may express their frustration through their behavior such as a decrease in academic skills. Acting out at school and combative towards parents. The family talk will allow families to understand the changes in the household as well as clear any miss conceptions the person has. Family talk intervention will allow children and adolescents to express their anger and frustration that has caused division in the family under the guise of a therapist.
Family talk is diverse with all cultures ethnicities, sex, and ages. The intervention concentrated on families, individuals, which can also include co-operating families, church families, and neighborhood families. However, the developmental issues that it will address are blended families and how to resolve the change in the hemostasis. According to Dunst & Trivette (2009), emphasis should encompass the entire family unit and not just the children. The authors based their principals on family allowing an opportunity for learning and development to promote positive change. The authors name other interventions such as family strength, family network, and help giving roles to name a few interventions that encourage family unity. Family Solution Focused Therapy is an evidenced-based practice that connects theory and research that enhances family function and strive to eliminate harmful behavior in parent-child and sibling relationships.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) develop by Steve de Shazer (1970), and Insoo Kim Berg (1970) is an evidenced-based therapeutic intervention that can work alone or with other healing techniques for treatment with mental illness. It also works well with any ethnicity, culture, sex, age as well as family dysfunction and relational issues. The goal of the theory is to focus on when the problem does not exist and the miracle question that will assist the family or individual to achieve the goals that are needed for the family to function in a safe and warm environment. The collaborative approach to have clients focus on what they want their future to look like or what it should include. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy asked the following questions:
If it is not broke, do not fix it.
Build on what is currently working for the family and determine if it will benefit in problem areas.
If it is not working, try something different; trial and error until the family gets the desired results.
Make small changes that will lead to more significant changes in the future.
The therapist asked the client what will be different once the problem resolved.
Therapist work with the client to achieve their goals.
Therapist speaks as if the problem is no longer a problem.
The therapist has the client to think about happier times or when the problem is not a problem.
Clients are the experts of there lives. Allow them to negotiate and create their future Shazer et al.
The therapist should start therapy sessions when using this method by having clients to brainstorm ways the issue can be resolved which means the family is no longer focusing on the problem but ways to fix the problem Gehart (p. 334).
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy is used for any ethnicity, gender or age. The focus based on what is working for the family and the strengths the family has to guide them to change or better understand the adjustment in their family dynamics the therapist view what the client says at face value. The clinician respects their beliefs without changing their belief systems. The therapist does not look at the client nor their problems as maladjustment but focus on designing roadmaps for the client to solve their problem. In a sense, the client comes up with their solution, and it probably feels as if the therapist did not have to do much work except for coaching.
Focus on future solutions, and reasoning rather than previous history and family issues are more beneficial for the family. However, interventions the therapist uses will help promote change. One goal for the therapist is to unite with the family to ensure collaboration with the therapist to not only secure a family alliance but to also safeguard that change takes place. Another critical aspect of therapy is to join the family. The therapist ability to successfully join the family promotes connectors once the family feels that the clinician has a genuine concern regarding their problem. They are joining begins at the first session of therapy. It is essential that the therapist creates an atmosphere that is warm, loving, and welcoming and culturally accepting to promote a secure alliance otherwise unsuccessful math will hinder any success in therapy and the client may not return to get the help due to a bad experience. Once the family feels a connection therapist and client work towards a solution for issues they have had in the past. The therapist should engage clients to think of a future event that would resolve their problems.
One way to determine that the intervention that used is valid is by asking yourself and the client if it works. Assessments, as well as progress notes to track the outcome of therapy, will help determine if the therapist should continue with what is currently in place or regroup by determining if the intervention used properly. Assessments like the Outcome Rating Scale are a great tool to use to determine the progress of therapy. Surveys are another tool to regulate change in the family hemostasis as well as determine if there are any changes or new problems in the family that the therapist need to address. Measuring the effectiveness allows the therapist to not waste valuable time on what is not working and the family becomes frustrated because they see no value to it. Once families feel comfortable with their therapist and see small changes in the family issue change is inevitable. It is essential for the therapist to incorporate assessment tools at the beginning of therapy to determine what is working and what is not working.
The therapist should encourage families to discuss their progress as well as the clinician progress in therapy. Families are the experts of their own lives, and they know what works and what does not work. Discussing how they feel about the progress in family therapy is useful is another method to use to determine therapy. However true effectiveness is based on the outcome of the issue being resolved. Are the blended families experiencing wholeness? Do the children understand and has accepted the change that has taken place in their family? Is the outcome in favor of the family in which they received the help and coping skills they need to function as a family? The answers to these questions may take at least four to eight sessions to determine if the family treatment plan met. Never the less, it is essential that the complete therapist assessment to ensure that the goals of the treatment plan are met.
Solution-focused brief therapy is a great approach to use for blended families in exploring their strengths, support from extended family and friends, and what change looks like for them, however, it has its limitations. Unlike most traditional therapy which explore family history and deep-rooted mental problems, SFBT focuses on what is the current issue. Families may focus on the problem that is causing dysfunction in their family, but the problem could be personal issues that they have with their self like anxiety, low self-worth, or depression. Another limitation to SFBT is that the therapist must consider what the client says is true, but in actuality, the client continues to suffer from some form of mental illness that is often overlooked using this method. This method is for individuals who do not have significant mental health problems and only need coaching to help fix their family issues.
References
Cherlin, A. J., Chase-Landsdale, P. L., & McRae, C. (1998). Effects of Parental Divorce on Mental Health throughout the Life Course. American Sociological Review, 63(2), 239249. https://doi-org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.2307/2657325
Dunst, C., & Trivette, C. (2009). Capacity-Building Family-Systems Intervention Practices. Journal of Family Social Work, 12(2), 119143. https://doi-org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.1080/10522150802713322
Expanded family life cycle: Individual, family, and social perspectives
Gurman, A. S. (2011). Couple therapy research and the practice of couple therapy: can we talk? Family Process, 50(3), 280292. https://doi-org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2011.01360.x
Hetherington EM. (2003). Social support and the adjustment of children in divorced and remarried families. Childhood, 10(2), 217236. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy1.ncu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=106714122&site=eds-live
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