Types of postmodern therapy 4
Benefits of postmodern therapy 5
3. Family therapy 5
Techniques 7
4. Conclusion 7
5. Reference 9
Introduction
Therapy is very important because it helps people cope with some of the psychological and emotional problems that prevents them from living life fully. These problems come from a wide range of issues that occur in everyday life. There are many issues that therapy concentrates on during the sessions. This is because it addresses people’s problems through making them understand their issues. Hence, the therapist helps the patient to formulate alternative solutions for their problems. Most of the problems addressed in therapy are depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, family issues and addiction. It can be observed that there are many types of therapy such as postmodern and family therapy.
Postmodern therapy
Postmodern and family system therapy have many similarities in the way they function. This is because they concentrate on rebuilding relationships in a family. The postmodern therapy main function focuses on the deconstruction of an individual’s belief that is affecting their lives (Angus and McLeod, 2004, p.53). This fact means that the therapy session will examine the values of a person and how it affects their life. According to most researchers, the postmodern therapy has a way of questioning the definition of the mental health and all the treatment successes that has been previously done. During the counselling session, it is very important for a relationship to be formed between the therapist and the patient (Minuchin, 1998, p.397). Therefore, research states that the mode of communication from the therapist to the client should be in a collaborative manner and not authoritative. When this occurs, then trust will be formed between the therapist and patient, thereby, opening door for open dialogue. It can be observed that there are three types of postmodern therapy such as solution focused therapy, narrative therapy and the collaborative language system.
Types of postmodern therapy
In the narrative therapy, the psychologist will evaluate the patient’s behaviors and thoughts, especially with regards to their culture. Therefore, this type of therapy can be stated to have firm beliefs that an individual is the master of their own lives. Thus, through dialogue with the therapist the patient will be able to identify the root cause of their problems (Angus and McLeod, 2004, p.55). In this session, a patient can be able to write a story about themselves and their life. Therefore, one can state that this type of therapy involves storytelling. According to researchers, this kind of therapy is used in treating people who have trauma or have experienced traumatic events (Parry and Doan, 1994, p.33). The eating disorder is also another problem that can be treated using this type of therapy.
Solution focused therapy will focus on finding a solution to a problem and not on the causes of that particular problem. Hence, it is a short-term approach that will guide the patient on what to do to eradicate their problems. Research shows that this type of therapy is helping a patient to understand what they want their future to look like and how to reach their goals (Sprenkle and Mills, 1995, p.370). Thereby, this type of therapy is used in treating depression and addiction.
When it comes to the collaborative language system, the patient and the therapist need to converse or talk in order to come up with the root of the problem and find ways of how to solve it. This type of therapy helps in treating people with attention deficit disorder (ADHD).
Benefits of postmodern therapy
According to the research findings, postmodern therapy has helped a lot of people to manage their mental health problems and also reduce the symptoms of their disorder (Sprenkle and Mills, 1995, p.369). Other benefits are conflict resolution, stress reduction or management and helped people understand themselves better.
Family therapy
Family therapy is defined as a psychological counselling that is aimed at improving communication among family members and help in resolving conflicts. This therapy session is also used to educate family members about the conditions or disorders of their loved ones and ways in, which they can cope with a particular illness. It is very important for the person who will provide this therapy session to be well qualified as a licensed therapist, psychologist and clinical social worker. According to most research conducted, family therapy is short-term and it requires the participation of family members who are willing to be part of the sessions (Goldenberg and Goldenberg, 2013, p.25). It is stated that the family’s situation is one of the key proponents that will lead to a particular treatment plan. Family therapy sessions will educate individuals with skills that will help them to deepen family relations and help them cope with stressful situations. Therefore, even when the therapeutic sessions have ended the family will be able to continue with the good connections.
The family system therapy is crucial because it brings all members of a family together and various therapeutic approaches are used in order to bring about changes in an individual’s life as well as the family. According to the family system therapy, people’s personal behaviors are stated to be caused by the environmental interactions (Northey, 2002, p.488). Therefore, this means that the problems people face that alters their lives are caused by the strained relationships in the family and society. Hence, this type of therapy is used to treat personal problems or issues, for example, depression, addiction and eating disorders. Some researchers have also indicated that family system therapy can be used to help people with marital problems.
It has been discovered that family system therapy is used to help families who have members suffering from schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder (Barker and Chang, 2013, p.89). Therefore, there are some certain cases with generational boundaries, which requires the family system therapy to bring family members together in order to work out the root cause of the problem being experienced. It is stated that this type of treatment combines other methods of therapy and treatment. Examples of such conditions are depression and schizophrenia, which requires further treatment (Smith & Lieberman, 2010, p.338). In the case of addiction, family therapy is used while the patient also goes to the residential treatment centers.
When it comes to family therapy one can be able to see its usefulness to the members of a family who are facing grief, stress, conflict and anger (Sexton and Lebow, 2016, p.182). The therapy enables the family members to be able to understand one another better and try to cope with these situations. Researchers believe that the best mode of family system therapy is the solution-focused therapy (Northey, 2002, p.493). Therefore, the therapy will be short-term and will take place once a week. The sessions concentrate on finding solutions to the family’s problems.
Techniques
Research shows that family therapy uses a wide range of techniques in counselling sessions. These techniques are structural therapy, systematic therapy, narrative therapy and transgenerational therapy (Barker and Chang, 2013, p.90). These structures are formulated in a manner that will aid the process of family therapy.
Strategic structure is stated to carefully study the interaction between the family members in a therapeutic session.
In the structural therapy, the therapist will have to identify the family organization. After finding it, they can change it depending on whether the organization system was the root cause of the problem in the family. The narrative therapy will focus on trying to eradicate the problem of the client.
In the transgenerational therapy, the therapist will examine the relationship and interaction of the clients from across generation in order to find the root cause of the problem and whether it will affect future generations.
The systematic therapy focuses on the family’s beliefs and values and how it affects the clients negatively.
Conclusion
There are millions of people all over the world who seek psychological help because of the trauma or abuse that they have faced in their lives. This fact can be observed because there are many survivors of childhood sexual abuse, rape, death, and suicide. Other problems that lead up to a therapy are anxiety, panic disorder, eating disorders, depression, PTSD, self-mutilation, suicidal thoughts, phobias, and low self-esteem. These problems are very serious because they affect the everyday life activities of the clients. Hence, there are numerous types of therapies used such as postmodern therapy and family system therapy. In the postmodern therapy, it focuses their attention into deconstructing the client’s common beliefs and also examine the client’s life. In the family system therapy, the therapists concentrate on the family by helping them to solve their problems or conflict and also to teach them how to cope with their family members conditions such as addiction, schizophrenia and depression.
Postmodern therapy and family system therapy have some similarities in the techniques that are used during sessions. Example is the use of the solution-focused therapy that is stated to be short term. In this therapy session, the therapist concentrates on ensuring that a solution has been found in order to help the clients to cope with issues and find lasting solutions to their problems. According to some research conducted, postmodern therapy has greatly influenced family system therapy (Sprenkle and Mills, 1995, p.368). This is because the world is evolving and there is a need for new techniques to be applied during therapy sessions. One of the technique is the narrative therapy. In this type of therapy, it involves storytelling and the therapist plays a non-existing role and instead their job is to guide the client (Parry and Doan, 1994, p.33). Therefore, this type of therapy entails that the client is the driver of their own life. Therefore, the solution to their problems has to be found within themselves.
Reference
Angus, L. E. and McLeod J. (2004). The Handbook of Narrative and Psychotherapy: Practice, Theory and Research. SAGE, 53-56.
Barker, P. and Chang J. (2013). Basic Family Therapy. Wiley, 88-90.
Goldenberg, H. and Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family Therapy: An Overview. Cengage Learning, 25.
Minuchin, S. (1998). Where is the Family in Narrative Family Therapy? Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 397-403.
Northey, W. (2002). Characteristics and Clinical Practices of Marriage and Family Therapists: A National Survey. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 487-494.
Parry, A. and Doan R. E. (1994). Story Re-Visions: Narrative Therapy in the Postmodern World. Guilford Press, 33.
Sexton, T. L. and Lebow J. (2016). Handbook of Family Therapy. Routledge, 182-203.
Smith, T. & Lieberman J. (2010). Schizophrenia: maintenance treatment. Am Fam Physician, 338–339.
Sprenkle, D. H. and Mills S. D. (1995). Family Therapy in the Postmodern Era. National Council on Family Relations, 368-376.
