Family Therapy

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Assessment in Family Therapy

The different structures of the family define the existing relationship. The overall structure of the family is divided into parental and sibling subsystem. The systems are dependent and interdependent on each other. This paper will talk about the general nature of assessment when conducting family therapy as discussed by Eliana Gil.

The chapter states that assessment should not focus only on the dysfunctions of a family, but also the adaptive functioning. The concept is referred to as comprehensive assessment. In the initial assessment, therapists should be keen on risk factors. These are factors which prompt people to engage in maladaptive behaviours. In this situation, the chapter talks about different parenting styles and the risk factors that have negative influences on the children. Eliana groups risk factors into three categories; predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors. Predisposing factors are those that arise from an individual’s past life and play a role in their current life. Secondly, precipitating factors are those that happen before certain behaviours are displayed. A parent frustrated at work may let it out on a child by shouting at them for no clear reason. On the other hand, perpetuating factors are those that enable the occurrence of behaviour. Therefore, in a session, the therapist should have the ability to assess these factors before embarking on a treatment plan.

In her perspective, Gil believes that achieving successful therapy involves assessing each individual in the family subsystem then using the skill of joining. Individual assessment is important in conceptualizing the case and determining the true cause of the presenting problem. Usually children are afraid to speak in the presence of their parents, therefore, having individual session enables the therapist to internalize the case and the risk factors leading to the maladaptive behaviours.

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