MFT 5105: Recovery-Oriented Care & Postmodernism Family Therapy

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MFT 5105: Recovery-Oriented Care & Postmodernism Family Therapy Grade_Bender Analyze Narrative Therapy Northcentral University MFT 5105: Recovery-Oriented Care & Postmodernism Family TherapyGrade_... Bender Narrative therapy is a leading postmodernist therapy founded by Michael White and David Epston, two New Zealand-based clinicians who thought it was critical to view patients as distinct from their issues. While aspects of narrative therapy are in use in other psychotherapies, this approach emerged in the 1980s from early modernist models such as strategic. Narrative therapy is the idea that we "plot" and make sense of live situations using dominant discourses accessible to us. People have "problems" because our personal lives may not conform to prevailing social conceptions and expectations; for example, at the age of 30, clients wanting to be married with children, much as their peers their age, have not accomplished this at the typical timeframe. Mr. White was interested in Foucalt's theory and applied it to some of the structural concepts of cybernetics and cybernetics and cybernetics. David Epston helped shape the model's flow and how inquiries were addressed to help participants construct their storylines through counseling. The holistic approach necessarily involves removing the client from the problem. One of the narrative model's core assumptions is that the therapist is a co-creator of the "latest" storyline. Rather than focusing on previously formed memories, clinicians help clients explore alternative perspectives and interactions with the problem. This method involves deconstructing, redefining, or introducing entirely new norms. Clients can discover new ways to interpret and relate to their identity over time. Narrative therapy, which was developed in the 1980s, attempts to encourage individuals by offering non-blaming and non-pathological intervention. It relies on story logic, which holds that individuals live by rewritten stories. When people are experiencing difficulties, they appear to acknowledge the consistent incidents with the problem story. Therapists apply additional layers to the problem-saturated definition rather than replacing it with a problem-free zone. ThisGrade_Bender technique assists clients in creating more balanced, rich, and appreciative accounts of events. Individuals in narrative therapy are viewed with dignity and encouraged for the courage it entails to step forward and work on complex emotions. Narrative family therapy allows the family to externalize their problems, resulting in problems being independent entities. We work to isolate the client from the dilemma in the early stages of treatment, with the distinct motto being, "the problem is the problem. The individual is not the problem." As social construction perspectives show prevalence in this model, applied through that theory is the lack of blame shown towards the client as they deconstruct their stories. Clients will strive to identify and alter unwelcome and inaccurate stories about themselves as therapists operate as investigative reporters, genuinely curious about the details of the story, while also being directed to disregard the tendency to fault others in the perceptions as well. Clients are very familiar with themselves and understanding this insight can permit a shift in their narratives. Narrative therapists are not viewed as an advice-giving authority but, rather, a collaborative partner in helping clients grow and heal. “Realities are constituted through language, realities are organized and maintained through narrative, and there are no essential truths”(Adamson & Watters, pg. 265, 2012). The way we interact with others impacts how we experience reality. These experiences with others become our known reality. People interpret experiences through language and people can have different interpretations of the same event or interaction. It is essential to mention that creating a plot or story should not have to be seen negatively; developing a narrative helps us make sense of our lives and, as therapists, recognize that different individuals can have different realities of the same experience. What is relevant for us might not be appropriate for anyone else.Grade_Bender Therapists may use deconstruction, externalization, and creating unique results to isolate the victim from the issue. Deconstruction is a technique used to assist individuals with gaining meaning in their stories. Our popular narrative can appear daunting at times as if we will never be able to get out from under it. When we have a complicated narrative in our lives that seems to have been with us for a long time, we can use general assumptions and get confused with our own stories. A narrative therapist would help us unravel our story into smaller pieces to explain our dilemma and make it more accessible. We will become spectators of ourselves as we use our voice to communicate our story. This exercise is used to build space between ourselves and our concerns, a process known as externalization. When we place this gap between us and our problem, we will modify unwanted habits rather than acting like we are the primary issue. A narrative therapist uses alternate experiences to help us challenge our issues and extend our viewpoint. The early phases of externalizing are divided into two parts: mapping the problem's impact by inquiring about how the problem has influenced the patient's life and significant others. The second aspect is to chart a person's impact, in which the counselor inquiries into how the individual has influenced the problem's existence. “Social constructionism is the key philosophical understanding behind the narrative model because of how shifts happen in therapy” (Adamson & Watters, pg. 265, 2012). Narrative Therapists use clients' language when relaying stories and are consistently inquiring and curious about the stance of the client in regard to their experiences. Asking questions such as, “Why is it that your partner not being emotionally available bothers you”, “Why do you feel this way about this development”? Social constructionists place a high value on the client's understanding and sense of the words they use. Clients are not held accountable for their responses, and there is noGrade_Bender correct or incorrect way to respond to questions; we are asking for clients to articulate their moral structure and identify their fundamental values and principles in life. Focusing on strength and resilience narrative therapists set the stage to explore unique outcomes where the clients elaborate on a time when the issue wasn’t so bad, and this allows the client to recall times when there were exceptions to their problem. A systemic hypothesis that I have observed watching the role play video is that the parents/clients feel that they have grown apart, they do not participate in the same intimate routine they once were in, life has become all about the kids, and there is no time for Ann and Charles. The couple has become stagnant in their routine but has neglected their relationship to replace the demand it takes to nurture and raise three children. They are overwhelmed in child duties, and due to the longevity of the routine, "over-saturated problems" do not know how to rekindle their relationship. In finding a new pathway and rediscovering old structures, they will revitalize the perspective that they can solve their problem. Allowing the clients to explore their perspectives, observers can gather that Ann, wife, sees larger repercussions with the inability to connect whereas Charles viewed it as natural outcomes to having children. Narrative therapy attempts to empower the client to explain their experience in a new vocabulary and promote the exploration or development of new alternatives that are unique to them. "Because the major focus of narrative therapy is "where people want to go" rather than "where they have been," narrative therapy is more optimistic than many other approaches." (Neukrug, pg. 140, 2020). In redefining their identities, the clients achieve empowerment and freedom. In the role-playing video with the married couple, the therapist first inquires into the client's priorities to ensure that the client's goals are prioritized in the person-centered method. Recognizing that the most lasting progress occurs in rehabilitation as the patient leads it, theGrade_Bender practitioner works to describe the presenting challenge by capturing all viewpoints from the participants and representing the client's language when retelling the story. When actively separating the clients from the problem by having them recall when the presenting issue was not present, the clients began to see how the problem is not inherited. They do not have to identify "broken", "unrepairable" but instead require assistance in identifying new perspectives, and exceptional outcomes. After identifying multiple unique outcomes where the problem is not present, hope can be revisited with the knowledge that the families and individuals are now supported with a new narrative. In observing the role play video, the therapists highlighted strengths, "just an observation...I am impressed by…", paraphrasing to the clients that their parenting is very important to them and this area is their strong suit, but it is their relationship that has taken a backseat overtime. “The concept of recovery is about staying in control of their life rather than the elusive state of return to a premorbid level of functioning” (Jacob, 2015). Overall, the therapeutic relationship works to reconfigure and revitalize the system’s ability to formulate a solution to their presenting problem.Grade_Bender References Adamson, D., & Watters, Y. (2012). An Introduction to MFT Systems Theory and Foundational Models. Manuscript submitted for publication, Northcentral University, California. . [Show More]

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