Family Psychoeducation Essay

With the recent release of the popular movie and book American Sniper, much attention has been drawn to the effects of the disease of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on its victims. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental illness from going through a traumatic experience, is more prevalent in veterans and men currently serving in the military, and it is important that effective treatment be sought.

Most contemporary psychological treatment approaches are predecessors of the ancient and medieval philosophies and theories. Cognitive behavioural therapy as one of the modern treatment method in not an independently formed treatment, different theories have contributed to its present shape and application.

Nurses interact with families in a variety of community-based and clinical settings. The family nursing process is the same, regardless of the setting or whether the focus is on the family as a whole or on an individual in that family (Crisp & Taylor 2005). In the case of a 3 year old girl just diagnosed with leukaemia, it is important for a nurse to critically analyse the situation and address any immediate concerns. The nurse must address any professional issues that may arise and any potential impacts of hospitalisation that may affect the child and the family. Also provide support and education to reassure and comfort them. The primary concern for paediatric nurses is the welfare of the child and the family (Crisp & Taylor 2005).

Structural family therapy is a model of treatment based on systems theory that was developed by Salvador Minuchin. Structural family therapy features emphasis is mostly on structural change as the main goal of therapy; it pays close attention to the individual but also acknowledges the importance of family in the healing process of the individual.

He was used to live in his brother’s shadow, but when the boat accident happened to them, he was the only one to survive. As he was always indentifying himself the less important one, he considered it was wrong that he was the one who would still have a life. As a result of nervous breakdown, he tried to kill himself with cutting his wrists in the bathroom, fortunately his father found out and save him. Then he went to the psychiatric for four months. When he comes back, there are still issues he needs to deal with.

In considering that a group on aging is centered on a particular theme, a psychoeducational group would be most appropriate. Corey (2010) suggests that the elderly may benefit from a psychoeducational structure as groups of this nature not only provide the opportunity to connect with members within the group, but teach members the skills they need to learn how to foster relationships and support systems beyond the group. Many older individuals, especially those within nursing or retirement homes, face isolation and loneliness as they have been removed from their friends and family primarily due to health reasons. Friends and family may visit often, but being separated from one’s home, community, and family unit, which can take a toll on an individual’s mental and emotional well being. Attending a psychoeducational group on successful aging might provide people a way to connect with their peers, while providing tools and coping skills to achieve a sense of meaning outside of the group.

“The Psychodynamics of the Family”, taken from The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender, published in 1978, remains one of Nancy Chodorow most influential works.

Research indicates that the majority of family interventions have an educational element regarding the diagnosis and treatment of individuals struggling with mental illness (Walsh, 2011). In addition, several family educational therapies provided education on the etiology of the particular mental health disease their family member or loved one is struggling in addition to offering self-help groups, educational material, and valuable resources on coping skills. It is generally agreed upon in the mental health community that education is the most valuable tool in regards to both those who are struggling with the mental illness and those who are caring for them. It is recognized that 80 percent of treatment and management of the disease is interventions and daily

This brings out the struggles of the family members who become caregivers to the mentally ill. "Anger, guilt, shame and other negative emotions- reinforced by society's continual stigma about mental illness may hobble families' abilities to support patients." NAMI has the answer to help those caregivers, a free twelve-week program called, Family to Family Education Program. Dr. Joyce Burland developed this program after she had an experience with a mentally ill family member. “ A core concept of the course is that severe mental illness is traumatic for both the patient and the family.” NAMI has offered this program going on twenty years now and has gone through the “gold standard” medical research and has been found to “significantly improves family members’ ability to cope by increasing their knowledge about and acceptance of mental illness.”

According to National Alliance on Mental Health (2016), recent findings have concluded that 1 in 5 adults have experience with a mental disorder in a given year. Children that are associated with these individuals can have different outcomes of life as compared to families without said individuals. These outcomes don 't necessarily have to be positive or negative, but they do become a substructure of who you are. As a child of a parental figure who continuously suffers with manic depressive disorder, I 've always wondered how or why this psychiatric disorder has had a direct impact on my way of life. The children that deserve an explanation, whether it can help them or not, is what makes this question so significant.

The history of family therapy began around 1960, when Gregory Bateson coined the term, “system thinking.” This type of therapy was a daring departure, both technically and philosophically, from traditional and individual treatment during the 1960s. Gregory Bateson was inspired. He felt that the unit known, as “the family” needed to be celebrated and that is exactly what he did” (Family Therapy, 2010, Para 1) Along with Gregory Bateson, are a list of several others who contributed to the evolution of Marriage and family counseling. This list includes the founder of social work, Mary Richmond, Mr. W. James, who researched the organic expression of social systems intervention and Mr. J. Dewey. Each of these

Systemic therapy was based on Minuchin’s Structural Therapy model (1968) followed by Bateson's cybernetic model (1972) The first order cybernetic model considerd that problems within a family system should be focused on by strategically solving problems, meeting family goals and help change a person's dysfunctional behaviour. D Shazer (1985). These concepts in Systemic therapy were known as the major paradigms and were taught by therapists such as Minuchin in Milan until the information-processing systems were introduced. They were characterized by the therapist's observation of the system from the external social world. Minuchin S & Fisherman,HC (1981)

The family assessment is a thorough assessment done by a health care provider. This assessment is the foundation of how health care providers provide care for a certain member of the family or the family as a whole. This assessment involves exploration of the family structure, development, and function. In addition, the family will express their strengths and barriers, internal and external structure, ethnicity, social class, religion, subsystems, which will allow the reader a better understanding of the family’s functioning.

My family health assessment was conducted using the 11 Gordon functional health pattern. Marjorie Gordon’s functional health pattern is a guide for establishing a comprehensive nursing date base, using the 11 categories enable nurses determines the following aspects of health and human function (Gordon 1987). The Gordon 11 functional health patterns are health perception/health management, nutrition, elimination, activity/exercise, cognitive, sleep/rest, self perception/self concept, roles and relationships, sexuality and reproduction, coping and stress tolerance, values and belief. This paper will summarize the findings of each health pattern as well as the family based nursing

1. Why do you want to complete a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy? What do you intend to do professionally after you graduate? Please explain why a PhD is necessary for you to achieve your career goals. These questions assess the strength of your motivations, which is an indication of your ability to succeed in the program. Describe your experience and interest in research. What research question might you want to answer with your dissertation? Do you desire to teach? If so, in what context? What role will clinical work play in your future goals and plans?