Family Therapy: Techniques, Role of Therapist, and Cultural Considerations

Running Head: FAMILY THERAPY
Name of the Student
Course Title
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Family Therapy 2
Abstract
Mental health is among the biggest challenge the world is facing now and the most ignored
health sections of our lives. (Grossman‐Kahn et al, 2018) Currently, the world eras are moving
extremely fast especially with the discovery of new technology and ways of doing things more
efficiently (Waters, 2016) Every day we face various kinds of problems that do not only affect
the physical body but also the mental health. However, people tend to treat the physical body
when they are sick and forget to treat their psychological well-being (Jong et al, 2016). In as
much both are important parts of living. In the current world, families are very important
especially in as much as psychological health is concerned.
A united family sets a foundation for development of the members in it (Yeung et al,
2016). In as far as togetherness in the family is concerned, family therapy is always
recommended. Family therapy is a psychological process that involves a professional(a
therapist); either a social worker or a counseling psychologist or even just a psychologist,
guiding the family members through a process of identifying, defining and managing the issues
that the family is facing to come up with a somber way of handling situations (Olszewski-
Kubilius, 2018).
Family Counseling
According to Barth (2017), family therapy is also known as family counseling and is
slowly rising up the rank of popularity as a remedy to family wrangles all over the world. Family
counseling is considered to be a form of treatment to help a family tackle a particular
problematic situation. It is done by a professional who handles it with at most keenness required

Family Therapy 3
to start the healing process. Becvar et al (2017) states that it involves several theories that are put
into practice by a therapist or professional to make sure a universal way of handling similar kinds
of problems. In as much as the healing process may differ from one person to another, it has been
proven scientifically to work (Willig & Rogers, 2017). The rate of the healing process depends
on how willing the client is to change and share the issues that are affecting him or her, and how
they respond towards the healing process.
According to Barth (2018), family therapy follows the normal counseling procedure only
that this time the theories, therapeutic styles, strategies and methods used have been specifically
channeled to help in family healing. Family counseling involves counseling the family in a
conjoint process, considering the family as a unit and not a single person within the existing
family. The therapeutic styles used have been used over the years and proven to be medicinal to
the mind in as much as most of the diseases treated are unseen. Mental illnesses may be unseen
but their effect are felt to the entire body and if not treated early may make the victim psychiatric
or even in worse cases they may cause death (Hawthorne et al , 2016).
Understanding of the family
When dealing with family counseling, it is vital to understand what a family is. However,
there have been various descriptions of what a family is and none of them is universally
acceptable by everyone as the actual definition of family. For example, as stipulated by the
words of Desmond Tutu on a family, “You do not choose your family, and they are God’s gift to
you as you are to them.” He poses family as God’s gift unlike other people’s understanding
(Bell, 2017).

Family Therapy 4
Esterson (2016) holds that, we define family depends on the prevailing social
constructions that exist around us and the personal experiences we have with family whether
good or bad. Furthermore, the real meaning of the understanding of the word “Family” just as a
model is greatly influenced by the cultural, cultural, historical and social stories we have in our
mindset (Yeung et al, 2016). In a layman language and understanding, a family is basically a
group of people related to each other by lineage or marriage or even not sharing such but bonded
together either by a belief in something or a common goal.
Family Therapy in Aotearoa New Zealand
When we mention Aotearoa we refer to the Maori name for New Zealand, a bilingual
name for national institutions majorly used to mostly refer to North Islands. (Amore, 2016)
claims that families in Aotearoa are in diverse forms. They occur in varied forms today hence it
becomes difficult to give a precise or rather consistent meaning of the name family.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the understanding of family is based on locality and
membership (Bennett & Liu, 2018). Families can be understood in terms of its functions such as
the nurturing and development of children into adults and the meeting of individual’s emotional
and affective needs Family recognizes diversity among the family profiles and family
experiences. Furthermore, in New Zealand, Maori and Pakeha view family in a different way
(Love, 2017). The Maori are considered to be indigenous Polynesians who inhabited New
Zealand and Pakeha are the New Zealand with European descent. They all have different
cultural background and thus Maori and Pakeha societies are likely to have significant
differences in how they handle things and towards understandings of family (Yeung et al, 2016)
and also various diversities in cultural groups influence lots of decisions including appreciation