Tenets Of Structural Family Therapy
Part I: Client and Presenting Problems The presenting family consists of 7 individuals. While the family as a whole is the identified client, each individual within the family is suffering from individual issues that are resulting in creating stress throughout the whole family. The identified parents, Lena and Stef, are a lesbian couple (Bredeweg & Paige, 2013). Stef, a Caucasian female who is as a police officer, was previously married to Mike, a fellow police officer, and they had a son identified as Brandon. Brandon, age 16, primarily lives with Lena and Stef at this time (Bredeweg & Paige, 2013). Lena is a bi-racial female who is Assistant Principal at the school district in which the children attend (Bredeweg & Paige, 2013). She
…show more content…
The reason I chose this model is due to the fact that because of all of the changes occurring within the family, Stef and Lena are losing some structure within the home. As Van Hook (2016) describes as one of the major tenets of SFT, it is helpful with creating structure, boundaries, and power (p.210). There is also research that states SFT is helpful for intimacy and sexual desire matters in couples and bullying (McAdams, et al., 2016). Structural Family Therapy is also found to be culturally diverse, a good model for parents of the same sex, and has been identified as a good choice for families with children in foster care (McAdams, et al., 2016). SFT is also said to work around three main topics: the family, the presenting problem, and the process of change (Evans, Turner, & Trotter, 2012) There is a more trauma informed version of Structural Family Therapy called Ecosystemic structural family therapy (ESFT) (Lindbla-Goldberg & Northey, 2013). Because it is an adaption of SFT, it could also be helpful to incorporate in with my work with the Foster’s. One of the major adaptions in ESFT that would be helpful with the Fosters is the fact that it includes attachment theory, focusing on individual and family attachment and emotional progression (Lindbla-Goldberg & Northey,
The reason I chose this model is due to the fact that because of all of the changes occurring within the family, Stef and Lena are losing some structure within the home. As Van Hook (2016) describes as one of the major tenets of SFT, it is helpful with creating structure, boundaries, and power (p.210). There is also research that states SFT is helpful for intimacy and sexual desire matters in couples and bullying (McAdams, et al., 2016). Structural Family Therapy is also found to be culturally diverse, a good model for parents of the same sex, and has been identified as a good choice for families with children in foster care (McAdams, et al., 2016). SFT is also said to work around three main topics: the family, the presenting problem, and the process of change (Evans, Turner, & Trotter, 2012) There is a more trauma informed version of Structural Family Therapy called Ecosystemic structural family therapy (ESFT) (Lindbla-Goldberg & Northey, 2013). Because it is an adaption of SFT, it could also be helpful to incorporate in with my work with the Foster’s. One of the major adaptions in ESFT that would be helpful with the Fosters is the fact that it includes attachment theory, focusing on individual and family attachment and emotional progression (Lindbla-Goldberg & Northey,