Assignment Code: MCFTE-001/TMA-8(1)/ASST-8(1)/2021-22

Course Code: MCFTE-001

Assignment Name: Marital and Family Therapy and Counselling

Year: 2021-2022

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Maximum Marks: 50

Note:

(i) Answer all the questions in both sections.

(ii) Answers to questions of Section “A” should not exceed 300 words each.

Section A - Descriptive Questions

(10X3=30 marks)

Q1. What is the purpose of an interview in the context of family therapy? (10)

Ans) An interview, as we all know, is a face-to-face conversation between the interviewer and the interviewee for the purpose of acquiring information from the interviewee. In counselling, the client and the counsellor/family therapist participate in the interview. It includes the family members or the couple in the case of family and marital counselling, respectively. Once a rapport has been established, the early interviews might focus on gathering family history. The amount of meaningful information acquired is determined by how well the interview is done.

During the recording of history, sensitive places must be investigated. It's important to look into if the family has sought help before, as well as any pertinent medical and psychological histories of family members. A good history provides counsellors/family therapists with insight into potential pressures, economic stressors, and strains that the family has faced in the past, as well as how the family has dealt with these difficulties. In addition, the family's social support resources, such as supportive relatives, neighbours, or friends, can be taken into consideration.

The function of the family therapist/counselor is to assist all members of the family in expressing interpersonal issues. This is often something that certain family members never do. It's possible that some families will be more resistant to this than others. In many families, members can become defensive and believe that one of them is to blame for the problem. Members may spend a great deal of time justifying and rationalising their actions. If the process is to be effective, it is helpful to make it plain to the family during the first session that each individual has a responsibility to participate in the sessions. Thus, interviewing clients allows the counsellor/family therapist to have a better understanding of the clients' personalities and interaction patterns.

During history taking, information obtained through observation of nonverbal and verbal exchanges is used to establish a hypothesis about the problem that the family is now facing, and then to develop an intervention to help the clients overcome their family difficulties.

Q2. What is the consequence of not maintaining neutrality? (10)

Ans) The counsellor/family therapist's neutrality refers to their position of not being allied with any one family member while also being allied with all of them. To prevent establishing a coalition with one family member against another, the counsellor/family therapist must retain objectivity. Family members may compete to persuade the counsellor/family therapist to join their side. As a result, neutrality is critical in family and marriage treatment and counselling. The following are the consequences of failing to maintain neutrality:

1. It's possible that the counsellor/family therapist takes a stronger stance in favour of one family member or group over another. Our personal backgrounds and experiences shape our perceptions of what is right and wrong, as well as how we believe things should be. This could lead to us empathising with specific family members.

   
   

2. A counsellor/family therapist, for example, may have encountered a similar circumstance or may know of others who have. It could even be a topic that the counsellor/family therapist is passionate about. Over identification with the family also puts the counsellor/family therapist at risk of losing impartiality and feeling helpless with the rest of the family.

   
   

3. It's beneficial and vital to remember in these instances that interactions inside the family have circular causation rather than linear causality. It's important to remember that we shouldn't bring our personal opinions into the intervention. This equates to pushing one's personal agenda rather than assisting the family in determining what is best for all of its members.

   
   

4. Self-awareness is also required of the counsellor/family therapist. This is vital to avoid mistaking his or her own feelings for those of the clients or attributing his or her own conflicts to those of the clients. It may be vital for the counsellor/family therapist to work with his or her conflicts and address feelings elicited by a client/family, as these might obscure objectivity.

Q3. Discuss RISSSC. (10)

Ans) The RISSSC acronym is effective when the therapist wants clients to contact and connect with challenging emotions. This includes the following:

1. Repeat: To accentuate the emotional experience, it's vital to repeat crucial words and phrases several times. "So you feel empty within, and that feeling is awful," for example. It's difficult to live with that void."

2. Image: Images are used to capture and focus on a specific emotion. "So you wait for him to answer, to say anything, but it's as if you're up against a wall; a big, towering wall that prevents you from reaching him," for example. What does it feel like to be up against this brick wall? "How does it affect you?"

3. Simple: It is critical to use simple and succinct words and phrases. "So what you want at that moment is for her to converse softly," for example.

4. Slow: The therapist speaks and conducts the session at a slower speed so that the client can interact with and deepen the emotional experience. "Hmm (pause).... And that is a terribly lonely spot for you.... (pause)," for example.

5. Soft: A soft voice calms and invites more in-depth exploration and risk-taking. It aids the clients in absorbing their feelings.

6. Client's Words: In a collaborative and validating manner, the EFT therapist takes notice of and adopts the client's words and phrases. "It's like when he says no, it's a punch in the belly, and you're reeling from it," for example. It stings because you feel rejected."

Section B - Short Answer/Objective Type Questions

(5x4=20 marks)

Q1. Write short notes (in 100-150 words each) on the following:

i) Conceptual skills

Ans) The ability of the counsellor/family therapist to understand what the pattern of interaction in the family indicative is of is referred to as conceptual skills. Conceptual talents are the characteristics that enable a person to comprehend complex situations and come up with innovative answers. These abilities are useful in the job because they allow people to tackle difficult situations from several angles. Individuals with conceptual talents are able to recognise, conceptualise, and solve complex situations. These abilities are valuable in the job because they enable professionals to think through abstract concepts and come up with multiple answers to complex problems. Someone with strong conceptual abilities can turn their ideas into actionable solutions. If you want to advance in your job as a manager or work in a profession that requires innovation, developing conceptual skills can help.

ii) Genogram

Ans) Collecting genogram information from the family, which includes information on all family members' ages, health, and occupation, is a useful skill. According to Thwaites, it allows the family to gradually warm up with a work that is neither hard nor challenging, and in which all family members can participate. It allows the counsellor/family therapist to become acquainted with the family. With visual representation of members, a three-generation genogram is quite handy. Males are represented by squares, females by circles, and marriage is represented by a single horizontal line. Children are represented (by a square/circle) at the end of a vertical line that runs from the square (father) to the circle (mother) (mother). A dot at the end of the vertical line indicates an abortion. A dotted line between the two people indicates that they are in an extramarital relationship.

iii) Sensate focus

Ans) In addition to the specialised treatments, sensitive concentration is a common component employed for all types of sexual difficulties. Information and education, taking reciprocal responsibility, eliminating performance anxiety, enhancing communication, and applying alternative sexual approaches, changing life styles and sex roles, and prescribing changes in behaviour are all frequent goals of sex therapy. Changes are made depending on the circumstances, such as the partner's availability, the type of dysfunction, socio-cultural factors, and the presence of other co-morbid psychiatric and physical illnesses. Masters and Johnson's Sensate Focus is a behavioural programme in which a couple completes homework assignments in the form of structured touching. The main objectives of sensate focus exercises are to promote couple communication, minimise performance anxiety, learn each other's erogenous zones, and take mutual responsibility. Couples are encouraged to take turns paying more attention to their own senses through a series of particular activities.

iv) Anxious attachment

Ans) People seeking assistance want to be understood correctly, and we want to be able to draw valid conclusions about their relationships and families. They require our assistance in sharing their relationship theory, value systems, and efforts to make partnerships happier. They may have approached the counsellor/family therapist with an open mind and a desire to receive the counsellor's/family therapist's advice. It's crucial to remember, though, that while they want to chat, they may be hesitant to do so. An attachment type marked by great distress when separated from a loved one, as well as difficulty having soothing, calming relationships. Partners with anxious attachment have a hard time soothing their own and each other's fears. Any threat to the attachment relationship causes distress, which leads to clinging behavior in the hopes of eliciting a soothing response from the partner. "Why didn't you pick up the phone, you never listen to me, you know I get anxious, can't you just talk to me for a minute?" for example.