COU101 (Psychology) | Case Study

Running head: COU101 (PSYCHOLOGY)
COU101 (PSYCHOLOGY)
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Introduction:
With a growing prevalence of mental illness around the globe, the need for
comprehensive counselling and psychotherapy is intensifying gradually. In Australian 1 in 5
individuals are experiencing at least one mental illness at some point in their life, accounting for
approximately 20% of the Australian (Porter & Nuntavisit, 2016). The most frequently occurred
mental illness in Australia include depression, substance abuse disorder, and anxiety. However,
54% of individuals with mental illness have no accessibility to the treatment which further
resulted in the worsened situation due to delayed treatment and high prevalence of suicidal rate
(Www.blackdoginstitute.org.au., 2019). The case study involves a 57 years old married man with
two adult children and employed as a civil engineer. While he describes his relationship with his
wife as normal, they do very little things as a couple. Since the past four months, he is
experiencing low mood, sleeping disturbance, and substance abuse disorder. In this context, the
family system therapy is chosen theory of counselling for assisting him and identifying his
strength. Hence, this paper aims to provide an explanation of choosing theory, historical
background of the theory, details of counsellor relationship with client and application of chosen
counselling theory on the case study in the following paragraphs.
Discussion:
The rationale behind choosing the counselling theory:
As observed in the case study that 57 years old man joseph considers his relationship
with his wife as normal but do very little activities as a couple despite the fact that he got married
to his high school sweetheart. In this context, the family system theory is chosen as a counselling
theory for identifying the specific roles of the couple, emotional distance along with the low

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mood of joseph so that he can be assisted for changing certain behavioural pattern that will
improve his health and wellbeing as well as his relationship with his wife and family.
Identification of the historical background and evolution of chosen theory:
Murray Bowmen, an American psychiatrist at the beginning of 1950s developed family
system theory for identifying diverse dynamics of the family unit and assisting psychotherapists
as well as counsellor to change the distorted behavioural pattern of the family members (Lassiter,
2017). Dr. Murray Bowen originated this theory and its eight interlocking concepts after
involving in the extensive study on the human relationship (Johnson & Ray, 2016). He
articulated the theory by using systems thinking to integrate an understanding of the human
species as a product of evolution with knowledge from family research. A core assumption of the
theory is that the emotional system which has evolved over several billion years governs human
relationship systems (Porter & Nuntavisit, 2016). He suggested that individuals cannot be
understood in the isolation rather they would require to understand as a part of their family. The
emotional system of the human being influence the majority of the human activity and it is
considered as the major driving force for developing clinical issues (Www.goodtherapy.org.,
2020). Gathering an understanding of how the emotional system functions in family, work, as
well as social systems of the client discloses novel and effective opportunities for resolving
problems in each of these areas. The members of the family are expected to involve and respond
to each other in a specific manner according to their defined role which is determined by the
agreement of the relationship (Www.goodtherapy.org., 2020). The theory also suggested that
often individuals become disconnected from their families, but this is more feeling than fact.
Families so intensely impact the thought process, feelings, as well as actions of family members
and it is crucial to identify the patterns that highly influence other family members. Over the