Week 12 - Lab Day - Working with Families

A presentation at Heritage University in March 2020 by Jacob Campbell and is tagged with BASW Program, Heritage University, SOWK 487w

Location: CBC Campus - SWL 108 Time: Wednesdays from 5:30-8:15 Week 12: 04/01/2020 Topic and Content Area: Working with Families II Reading Assignment: Prest and Protinsky (1993) Assignments Due: N/A Other Important Information: N/A

[Whole Class Activity] Watch Family Therapy Video clip of the Simpsons. Today we will be talking about working with families and what that looks like.

Specific tools for working with families Dysfunctional family roles Implementation of family intervention

This activity is based both on work done ART and from Guiding Good Choices Parenting Classes. In ART the following are the sections of what is called the anger control chain. Triggers (internal / external) Cues Anger reducers Reminders Thinking ahead (if __ then __ thinking) Social skill Self evaluation I want to show you an activity you could do in groups / with families to help brainstorm what a youth’s cues are. [Whole Class Activity] Draw an outline of a person. Have people brainstorm what they feel like when they get upset. Using outrageous drawings.

The following is a handout I used to use many times when I have been working with families who have conflict. One way that I frequently used it was to talk about it point by point. [Whole Class Activity] Demonstrate with volunteers going through the form for a couple of minutes.

The following is a good list of validating vs. invalidating statements. [Whole Class Activity] Give class some time to review the material. What are some different ways that somebody could use this with a family?

The wellness wheel is not an activity I did as frequently with families as I did with individuals, but it it still works just as well. [Whole Class Activity] Have entire class complete a wellness wheel themselves, walking them through questions.

This is another form that I thought I’d share with you. It’s a pretty simple concept. Sometimes it can be really beneficial for our clients if we can make things simple and clearly defined. While, I don’t have other examples for you, similar style handouts could be made and used… Using I-Messages Eriksons stages of development …etc

There can be a number roles that family members might fall under. Sometimes, especially in literature regarding substance abuse, there are roles described as co-dependent or dysfunctional considered common. We are going to spend some time examining those. Also, something to consider. There is no real scientific backing to some of this, it is taken as standard and frequently seen, but has not be scientifically verified.

The entire family life revolves around the addict or alcoholic. Each codependent role has been taken on in order to “make sense” of, and handle, the dysfunction in the everyday life of the family. Understanding the addict is very important. Of equal importance is knowing that by making changes in your own actions, you can stop supporting the addictive behavior of your loved one.

This family member (often the oldest child) devotes his time and attention to making the family look “normal” and without problems. By overachieving and being successful in school, work or social activities. The Hero feels he can mask or make up for the dysfunctional home life. Everyone sees the Hero as kind, helpful and positive. Inside Heroes often feel isolated inside Unable to express their true feelings. They may have difficulty with intimate relationships in later life May suffer from illness related to stress. They are often workaholics as adults.

The Scapegoat (often the second born) always seems defiant, hostile and angry. They are perpetually in trouble at school, work or in social situations… Often our target client…. Their behavior turns the focus away from the addict or alcoholic in the family They may also be reacting to the attention that the hero child receives Frequent turns to high risk behaviors as a way to express their inner feelings of emptiness. The Scapegoat may experiment with drugs or alcohol. They may become sexually active at an early age, or get into frequent fights. They can be very clever, and leaders in their own peer groups. Often the groups that they choose to associate with are gangs or other groups that do not present healthy relationships. All of these negative behaviors need to be seen as a cry for help!

This family member is often the youngest child in the family. They are the court jester, trying to get everyone to laugh. They do this unconsciously to improve the atmosphere in the dysfunctional household, as well as turn the focus away from the addict or alcoholic. The rest of the family may actually try to protect their “class clown” from the severity of the addiction, and whatever other problems exist within the family. The problem with this is that The Mascot may run away from problems, even as an adult, or continue to use humor to focus away from problems. The Mascot is often busy-busy-busy. They become anxious or depressed when things aren’t in constant motion. This hyperactivity makes it hard for them to concentrate very long on any one particularly thing, and this makes school or work difficult. Some mascots turn to drugs or alcohol to help them “slow down” or handle their anxiety.

The lost child basically disappears. They become loners, or are very shy. They feel like strangers or outsiders, not only in social situations, but also within their own families. Often they feel ignored, and that they don’t matter. Their way of handling the addictive behavior in the family is to draw away from interaction with family members. The Lost Child often has a rich inner life. Because they don’t interact, they never have a chance to develop important social and communication skills. The Lost Child avoids trouble, even if they truly need something. Sometimes they develop physical problems, such as asthma or obesity, in order to gain attention. They may never even realize they are doing this. As adults, they may never marry, or may have difficulty having an intimate relationship.

Next is the caretaker, but another descriptive word for this type of codependent family role is “enabler.” The Caretaker feels like they have to keep the family going. Over and over they take on the addicts problems and responsibilities. The fact that they have to do this may make The Caretaker angry or frustrated, but they never quite see that by choosing not to help they actually could help the addict. The Caretaker is the martyr of the family, and often supports not only the addictive behavior of the addict or alcoholic, but also the codependent roles that everyone else is playing.

“Social workers address a wide range of family problems and issues. Thus, the techniques and approaches used vary dramatically.” (p. 371) We can kind of think of these interventions as tools that we can keep in our tool belt.

“Reinforcing and reaffirming the positive qualities, strengths, and resources of a family should be an ongoing theme in work with families.” (p. 371) Emphasizing Positive Communication: Emphasize positive statement reported by the family Explore Exceptions: Encourage family members to share stories about themselves - discuss aspects of how have previously been successful. (think SFBT “Exploring for exceptions”) Strengths & Competency: Note family interactions that reflect strength and competency (Underscoring positive family interactions) Positive Activities: Investigate times that family members enjoy together (what does it look like, where do they do it. Encouraging more…) Examine Problem Solving: Emphasize what families do well (learn how families solve problems)

“Reframing is a strategy that helps family members view a problem or issue with a different outlook or understand it in a different way.” Often times means changing negative thinking about another family member to a new more positive perspective Provides opportunities for sharing strengths [Activity] With a partner spend some time thinking thinking about something that you are ambivalent about changing. Spend time having discussion regarding the topic, and practice reframing your fellow students view on the topic.

“Problem-solving ‘focuses on how the family experienced differences as well as on its methods for solving difficult problems.” (p. 372) Exploring how manage behaviors (or other problem solving applications) Teaching the generalist intervention model [Discussion] What might this look like?

“Teaching parents how to improve their children’s behavior is a common goal in family treatment.” (p. 373) Opportunities for increasing positive behavior Opportunities for decreasing negative behaviors Teaching I-Messages -> Slide Behavioral approaches (operant conditioning) Positive reinforcement (consequence to increase a behavior) Negative reinforcement (removal of negative impact to increase behavior) Positive punishment (addition of something negative have to do) Negative punishment (taking away something enjoyable) Modeling (learning behavior by observation)

Many times, our clients just need a little more support, and they are able to be successful. Brokering activities Focus on formal / in-formal supports

“Role playing refers to having a person assume a different role or part than the one he or she would normally assume.” (p. 374) (pretend to be somebody else) Can be one family member assuming the role of another family member (i.e. dad sees how yelling looks, kid sees how tantrum looks to others) (pretend to manage differently) Can be the person remains themselves, but practices doing it differently than would have (think about ART)

Recording makes people confront the effectiveness and appropriateness of their various verbal and nonverbal behaviors. Notes of caution -> Using discretion, only infrequent / specific purpose. Can take time for families to get use to being recorded.

“Homework assignments are tasks given to client to be completed at home or outside the interview.” (p. 375) [Discussion] What are some possible examples of homework assignments? Should have at least one of the following: Specific directions for activities Specific directions for frequency Specific directions for how to track progress Specific directions what going to share at the next meeting Indication of what might happen while implementing

Portrait style photo of Jacob Campbell

Dr. Jacob Campbell

24 slides

Description

This week we continue our focus on working with families. The agenda is as follows:

Specific tools for working with families
Dysfunctional family roles
Implementation of family intervention