Counselling And Intervention Assignment

Running head: COUNSELLING AND INTERVENTION
Counselling and Intervention
Student’s name
University
Author’s note

COUNSELLING AND INTERVENTION1
Task 1
Use of group work/family group conferencing as methods of intervention
Family group conferences (FMCs) and group work methods are developed as effective
tools for providing decision making models for serious problems related to justice and social
welfare. Family group conferences (FMCs) are essentially a formal meeting that involves family
members of the distressed individual and competent officials such as social workers, local
authorities and police in order to ensure the protection and care of a child or adolescent from
potential harm or protecting them from criminal offences (Maluccio and Daly 2017). It
originated in New Zealand, where it was originally used to allow the social workers act in
accordance with the Māori culture and values. It facilitates the entire whānau, i.e. family along
with its extended family members to participate in the decision making process for the affected
child or adolescent and come up with a decision that best suits the child’s needs and interests.
The mediated meeting allows the officials to raise concerns for the child and allows the family
members to develop a suitable plan that addresses the specific concerns (Goldson 2019).
On the other hand, group work is also another form of voluntary association of family
members to cater to the needs of an individual. In the field of social work and psychotherapy,
group work refers to group therapy offered by a skilled practitioner trained in psychoanalysis,
psychotherapy or counselling. In the context of social work, such group therapy helps the person
in distress to enhance their social functioning skill that could eventually bring about positive
changes. These changes, acquired through the educational process of group experiences and self-
reflection, have the potential to help an individual in the process of social adjustment through

COUNSELLING AND INTERVENTION2
voluntary association. This association could also be the means of furthering socially desirable
ends (Brandler and Roman 2015).
Both the approaches mentioned above can be regarded as effective forms of intervention,
especially in the cases of child protection. With the help of Sarah’s case study, the claim can be
further elucidated. Sarah is a 6-year old girl who has recently lost her mother. Her father, who
has a history of alcoholism and domestic violence, has been recently released from prison. Under
such circumstances, Sarah’s custody has been a crucial issue for her extended family. They
consider Sarah’s father as totally unfit for taking care of her daughter due to his alcohol abuse
and threatening behaviour. However, there is a dispute as it is unclear which of Sarah’s family
members is best suited to for taking her custody. In this situation, a FMC would be an ideal
method of intervention to decide who will be the most suitable for taking care of Sarah. The
appointed practitioner in this case could raise concerns for Sarah’s needs such as educational,
developmental as well as mental and physical health needs. And her extended family, including
her grandmother who has Sarah’s custody for the time being, can review and discuss the
willingness, mental and economic ability as well as the appropriateness of the home environment
of the family members who can take care of Sarah’s needs. On the other hand, group work can
also be helpful for Sarah’s father in overcoming his problems of alcohol abuse and violent
behaviour, so that there could be a chance for him to cope up in the social adjustment process
and provide Sarah with the attention and care as the primary caregiver or biological parent.