Family Therapy Assignment: Ethical Dilemmas and Approaches

This assignment delves into the complexities of family therapy, emphasizing the significance of defining the client and addressing ethical dilemmas. The student explores the importance of informed consent, confidentiality, and various therapeutic approaches, including narrative and solution-focused therapy. The assignment analyzes ethical considerations, particularly in the context of couple and family counseling, and provides insights into how therapists can navigate sensitive situations. The student also examines the principles of Gottman's approach to marriage, highlighting the importance of conversation and understanding within a marital relationship, and compares and contrasts the procedural approaches of Narrative Family Therapy and Solution Focused Family therapy. The assignment draws on both theoretical frameworks and personal experiences to illustrate the application of different therapeutic models in addressing family issues.

Running head: FAMILY THERAPY 1
Family Therapy
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

A family setting helps a lot in shaping the lives of individuals, it may include persons
related by consanguinity or affinity. Their behavior and social interaction depends on what they
emulate from their elders and parents in the family settings. Family therapy is therefore
necessary. It is important for counsellors to understand their client. That is because different
clients have different family orientations and needs. The diversity nature of the clients raises the
need for each of them to be addressed differently (Milton, 2017).
The appropriate answer would depend on the nature of the issue to be discussed. If it is a
personal issue that does not affect other family members, then the confidentiality aspect shall be
observed and give appropriate counselling (Goldenberg, Stanton & Goldenberg, 2017). If the
issues affects the family relations, then it would be advised that other family members must be
involved to give guidance that will be applied by all the members. A family therapist would
prefer to address a family issue at a family level.
The identified ethical dilemma is informed consent. Majority of the family members
seem reluctant to consent to kind of family therapy that they ought to receive. It leaves the
therapist in dilemma to convince the person on the need of the therapy. To respond to the
dilemma, it is important to explain to the family the need to receive counselling on the particular
issue by highlighting how such a therapy could be a solution to the prevailing situation. Section
A.7.b. of the ACA code of ethics provides for confidentiality rule. It states that a counsellor must
obtain consent from the client prior to their engagement (American Counseling Association,
2014)
The first principle is about marriage partners understanding one another. He states in
most divorce cases, partners do not understand one another. The second principle talks about
what couples should do when they are in a conflict. He advises that reflection on the past

experiences is the best cure. The third principle discusses the importance of a conversation
within a marriage. He states that it is the source of happiness in a marriage. The fourth principle
is about equality. Couples should have equality in the role to promote prosperity in the family
(Goldenberg et al., 2017). The fifth discusses how conflicts arise in a family. The sixth discuss
ways of avoiding conflicts to come to the marriage relationship. The seventh states that birds of
the same features flock together. Couples with different characters may behave differently and
succeed in life. (Gottman, & Silver, 2015).
The myths h Gotman identifies include; ‘Love is enough’ and ‘all marriage conflicts can
be resolved.’ He thinks they are myths because those are the actual realities. Love alone is not
enough because it fades with change in circumstances of marriage such as acquisition of
children. The second is also a myth because some marriage conflicts keep recurring and cannot
be resolved once and for all (Gottman, 2016). Gottman contends that friendship is the core of a
happy and strong marriage. A high quality marriage friendship is likely bring physical
satisfaction to marriages. The point I resonate with most is the third principle on the importance
of conversation in a marriage. Partners feels satisfied when they converse and reason together in
finding the way forward (Gottman, 2008).
Discussion 5
Although there is a difference in the procedural approaches of Narrative Family Therapy
and Solution Focused Family therapy, they are liked by their approach on postmodern view of
language. That is because language is viewed as a social reality. The link between the two is
majorly applied by therapists that use the Recovery model (O'Connell, 2012).

The two phrases of ‘Not Knowing’ and ‘De-Centered’ helps the therapists in obtaining
the necessary information that is required in giving the correct family counselling. The concept
of story apply in both solution oriented and narrative models of family therapy. In the narrative
model, the approach focuses on an individual’s life and past experiences. The therapist considers
the background information which may include cultural developments. At some levels, Solution
Oriented model employ stories of the present to identify the solutions to existing problems. They
refer to the past stories in the instance where they intend to show empathy to the situation of the
client.
In the model of Structural Family Therapy, the counsellor performs several functions
depending on the approach they take. In a case where they adopt narrative theories, they will dig
into the cultural histories of the client and their past experiences to help them build effective
solutions to the problem. They have a view that a problem arises from an occurrence and not
individuals themselves (Freedman, & Combs, 2008). On the other hand, in solution focused model,
counsellors only considers the current occurrences and give appropriate advice and solution
without considering the past. In a personal experience, I faced a troubled marriage as a result of
cultural differences, the narrative model would be appropriate to identify what our cultures stated
and how they could be harmonized for a better marriage (Goldenberg et al., 2014). We found
that as a couple, we hailed from different cultures which provided for different dictates. We
agreed to appreciate each cultural values and forged the best way forward.

References
American Counselling Association, (2014) Code of ethics
Freedman, J. I. L. L., & Combs, G. E. N. E. (2008). Narrative couple therapy. Clinical handbook
of couple therapy, 229-258.
Goldenberg, H., Stanton, M., & Goldenberg, I. (2017). Family therapy: An overview (9th ed.).
Cengage learning.
Gottman, J, (2016) Debunking 12 Myths about Relationships, Co-founder Gottman Institute
Gottman, J. M. (2008). Gottman method couple therapy. Clinical handbook of couple
therapy, 4(8), 138-164.
Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2015). The seven principles for making marriage work: A
practical guide from the country's foremost relationship expert. Harmony.
Milton H. Erickson Foundation (Producer). (2017). Couples vs. Individual Therapy: What
Works/What Doesn't [Video file]. Retrieved from Academic Video Online: Premium
database. https://video.alexanderstreet.com/embed/couples-vs-individual-therapy-what-
works-what-doesn-t?context=channel:counseling-therapy.
O'Connell, B. (2012). Solution-focused therapy. Sage.