Application: Applying Bowenian and Structural Theories

Theory-based treatment planning, the type you will use throughout this course, is informed, and guided by your theoretical orientation. Incorporating your theoretical orientation into treatment planning will help you set goals and choose treatment techniques and interventions appropriate for the client(s) you serve (Gehart & Tuttle, 2003). This week you apply two counseling theories, Bowenian and structural, to formulate your treatment planning and apply appropriate interventions.

In this Application Assignment, you watch videos of counselors demonstrating the use of Bowenian and structural theories in family counseling. You then formulate treatment plans for the families in the videos, applying the theories in question and justifying the use of appropriate interventions. Keep in mind that while you may not have adopted either of these theories as your theoretical orientation, you should still base your treatment planning and interventions on them for the purposes of this Application Assignment.

Reference: Gehart, D. R., & Tuttle, A. R. (2003). Theory-based treatment planning for marriage and family therapists. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

The assignment (4–6 pages) Based on the theory demonstrated in both videos:

· Define the problem.

· Formulate a treatment plan including short- and long-term goals.

· Describe two theory-based interventions you would use and justify your selection.

· Explain one anticipated outcome of each.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.

Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources. To view this week’s media resources, please use the streaming media players below.

Required Resources

Media

· Video: Psychotherapy.net. (Producer). (n.d.). Bowenian family therapy [Motion picture]. [With Philip Guerin, MD]. United States: Psychotherapy.net. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Video: Psychotherapy.net. (Producer). (n.d.). Structural family therapy [Motion picture]. [With Harry Aponte, LCSW]. United States: Psychotherapy.net. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Readings

· Course Text: Gehart, D. R., & Tuttle, A. R. (2003). Theory-based treatment planning for marriage and family therapists. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

·

. Chapter 1, “Treatment Planning”

. Chapter 2, “Structural Family Therapy”

. Chapter 8, “Intergenerational Family Therapy”

· Course Text: Gurman, A. S., Lebow, J. L., & Snyder, D. (2015). Clinical handbook of couple therapy (5th ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

·

. Chapter 9, “Bowen Family Systems Couple Therapy”

. Chapter 13, “Structural Couple Therapy”

· Article: Brown, N. D., & Samis, M. C. (1986). The application of structural family therapy in developing the binuclear family. Mediation Quarterly, (14/15), 51–69. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: Farmer, C., & Geller, M. (2005). The integration of psychodrama with Bowen’s theories in couples therapy. Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama & Sociometry, 58(2), 70–85. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: Larson, J. H., & Wilson, S. M. (1998). Family of origin influences on young adult career decision problems: A test of Bowenian theory. American Journal of Family Therapy, 26(1), 39–53. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Optional Resources Readings

· Book: Bitter, J. R., Long, L. L., & Young, M. E. (2010). Introduction to marriage, couple, and family counseling. Mason, OH: Cengage.

·

. Chapter 4, “Multigenerational Family Therapy”

. Chapter 8, “Structural Family Therapy”

Application: Community Counseling Resources

George Albee, commonly known as the “father” of prevention, stated in 1958 that the mental health profession will never be able to train enough mental health professionals to adequately treat those individuals with mental health problems. The solution, he suggested, is to target mental health services toward the prevention of mental health difficulties (Albee, 1959). The counseling profession as a whole has prevention at its historical and aspirational roots, and marriage, couple, and family counseling is no exception. In fact, marriage, couple, and family counseling possesses unique qualities that can aid in preventative interventions to families and couples across the lifespan.

As a marriage, couple, and family counselor, you will be required to be aware of and be able to evaluate the mental health services provided in your community, from treatment to primary preventative interventions. For this Assignment, select one issue from the following list: substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, child/adolescent drug/alcohol abuse, or depression. Identify a resource in your own community that provides primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions for the issue you selected. Then, consider any gaps that may exist in the interventions provided and how you might address them.

Reference: Albee, G. W. (1959). Mental health manpower trends. New York: Basic Books.

The assignment (2–3 pages)

· Analyze primary, secondary, and tertiary couple and family counseling interventions provided by community resources. Remember that “primary services” focus mainly on preventative efforts and those services geared towards early intervention. “Secondary services” can be described as those services, such as screening, assessment, and intervention in which direct care is provide for active concerns and issues. “Tertiary Care” is defined as specialized care and/or services provided to a client family upon referral, such as vocational rehabilitation, case management, and specialized aftercare.”(Ballard, n.d.)

· Identify the issue you selected.

· Describe the community resource you selected related to this issue, including the primary, secondary, and/or tertiary intervention(s) it provides for your community.

· Describe any gaps that may exist in the interventions that the resource provides.

· Explain how you might address these gaps. Be specific.

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Readings

· Course Introduction (located in the left navigation bar)

· Course Text: Gurman, A. S., Lebow, J. L., & Snyder, D.  (2015). Clinical handbook of couple therapy (5th ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

·

. Chapter 1, “The Theory and Practice of Couple Therapy: History, Contemporary Models, and a Framework for Comparative Analysis”

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

· Article: Albee, G. W., & Ryan, K. (1998). An overview of primary prevention. Journal of Mental Health, 7(5), 441–449. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: Case, E. A., & Lindhorst, T. P. (2009). Toward a multi-level, ecological approach to the primary prevention of sexual assault: Prevention in peer and community contexts. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10(2), 91–114. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: Hansen, J. T. (2009). Self-awareness revisited: Reconsidering a core value of the counseling profession. Journal of Counseling & Development, 87(2), 186–193. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: McCarthy, B., Ginsberg, R. L., & Cintron, J. A. (2008). Primary prevention in the first two years of marriage. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 19(2), 143–156. Book Excerpt: Lewis, J. A., Lewis, M. D., Daniels, J. A., & D’Andrea, M. J. (2002). The Community Counseling Model  . In J. A. Lewis, M. D. Lewis, J. A. Daniels, & M. J. D’Andrea, Community counseling: Empowerment strategies for a diverse society (pp. 1–44). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Optional Resources

Articles

· American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/Resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

· International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors. (n.d.). IAMFC ethical codes. Retrieved from http://www.iamfconline.org/public/department3.cfm

With these Learning Resources in mind, please proceed to the Discussi

Discussion 1

The Dynamics of Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling Many of the counseling theories and techniques you have studied thus far in your program are applicable to both individual and marriage, couple, and family counseling. However, working with couples and families presents numerous theoretical, ethical, and practical challenges that are not present when counseling individuals. Delineating these challenges and recognizing the differences between the two subsets of counseling is an important exercise as you gain more advanced counseling knowledge and skills. This exercise will help you capture the complexity of working with clients from a systems perspective and have self-awareness of any skills you need to develop. With these thoughts in mind: Discussion Question:

Give three examples of how marriage, couple, and family counseling differs from individual counseling. Then, explain any challenges you may face when working with couples and families based on your current skills. Be specific.

·

· Resources

·

· Article: Albee, G. W., & Ryan, K. (1998). An overview of primary prevention. Journal of Mental Health, 7(5), 441–449. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: Case, E. A., & Lindhorst, T. P. (2009). Toward a multi-level, ecological approach to the primary prevention of sexual assault: Prevention in peer and community contexts. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10(2), 91–114. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: Hansen, J. T. (2009). Self-awareness revisited: Reconsidering a core value of the counseling profession. Journal of Counseling & Development, 87(2), 186–193. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Article: McCarthy, B., Ginsberg, R. L., & Cintron, J. A. (2008). Primary prevention in the first two years of marriage. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 19(2), 143–156. Book Excerpt: Lewis, J. A., Lewis, M. D., Daniels, J. A., & D’Andrea, M. J. (2002). The Community Counseling Model  . In J. A. Lewis, M. D. Lewis, J. A. Daniels, & M. J. D’Andrea, Community counseling: Empowerment strategies for a diverse society (pp. 1–44). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Optional Resources

Articles

· American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/Resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

· International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors. (n.d.). IAMFC ethical codes. Retrieved from http://www.iamfconline.org/public/department3.cfm

Literature Review

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the Ryder, Ban, & Chentsova-Dutton (2011) “Towards a Cultural-Clinical Psychology,” American Psychological Association (2014) “Guidelines for Prevention in Psychology,” Hage, et al. (2007) “Walking the Talk: Implementing the Prevention Guidelines and Transforming the Profession of Psychology,” and Rivera-Mosquera, et al. (2007) “Prevention Activities in Professional Psychology: A Reaction to the Prevention Guidelines” articles.

Clinical and counseling psychology is a dynamic field that is constantly evolving and striving toward better treatment options and modalities. In this literature review, you will explore and integrate psychological research into a literature review, addressing current trends in three major areas of clinical and counseling psychology: assessment, clinical work, and prevention.

In your review, include the following headings, and address the required content.

Assessment
Support this section with information from the Ryder et al. (2011) article “Towards a Cultural-Clinical Psychology” and at least one additional peer-reviewed article from the Ashford University Library.

• Compare the assessments currently in use by clinical and counseling psychologists.
• Explain the trend towards cultural-clinical psychology and the suitability of clinical assessments with diverse clients.

Clinical work
Support this section using a minimum of three peer-reviewed articles from the Ashford University Library. The recommended articles for this week may be useful in generating your response.

• Compare and contrast technical eclecticism, assimilative integration and theoretical integration.
• Provide a historical context and identify the major theorists for each perspective.
• Assess the trends in psychotherapy integration.
• List three pros and cons for each perspective, sharing which perspective most closely aligns with your own.
• Analyze the major trends in psychology and explain the connection between evidenced-based practices and psychotherapy integration.

Prevention
Review the “Guidelines for Prevention in Psychology” (American Psychological Association, 2014), and support this section with information from the Hage, et al. (2007) “Walking the Talk: Implementing the Prevention Guidelines and Transforming the Profession of Psychology,” and Rivera-Mosquera, et al. (2007) “Prevention Activities in Professional Psychology: A Reaction to the Prevention Guidelines” articles.

• Describe general prevention strategies implemented by clinical and counseling psychologists at the micro, meso, exo, and macro levels.

The Literature Review

• Must be 7 to 10 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least seven peer-reviewed sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Waypoint Assignment Submission

The assignments in this course will be submitted to Waypoint.  Please refer to the instructions below to submit your assignment.

1. Click on the Assignment Submission button below. The Waypoint “Student Dashboard” will open in a new browser window.
2. Browse for your assignment.
3. Click Upload.
4. Confirm that your assignment was successfully submitted by viewing the appropriate week’s assignment tab in Waypoint.

For more detailed instructions, refer to the Waypoint Tutorial (Links to an external site.)