Case study: Case Description/Observation Psychology Essay

Family Therapy
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Case Description/Observation
The family in question belongs to Lisa, a 39-year-old white heterosexual married woman, and Li, a 42-year-old man of Canadian and Chinese origin together with their children, Jimmy, the son of 14 years old and Emma, who is eight years old. Lisa called inquiring for a sit-down at the family counselling center because she wanted to discuss her mental health as she had been feeling depressed over her son. The son had been getting himself in unnecessary trouble in school. He had started missing his homework assignments, which led to him failing his classes. He had also been suspended the previous week for punching another student. When asked about her daughter, Lisa said that all her life, Emma had been quiet and did not portray any behavioural issues at the moment of the discussion. However, when she came in for an interview, Emma did not seem normally happy compared to other kids her age.
The mother also adds that the girl is arguably inactive, and her speech is not spontaneous and cheerful, as it would have been expected. From the first interview, it was evident that there were serious marital issues in the family. In the second interview, an individual session, Lisa claims that her husband, a software programmer, feels somewhat entitled and has been spending at least 5 hours playing online poker games. Although Li's perception is that he has the right to do whatever pleases him during his free time, his wife feels that the phenomenon is a dangerous addiction and a betrayal to the family, both emotionally and financially. The tension between the two of them has had a negative impact on their son's behaviour as the husband does not take time to connect with his son and the whole family, in general. On the other hand, Li feels that the entire situation is due to Lisa's high levels of stress and her uncontrollable anger.
Different pieces of information emerge and other conclusions that can be made from the observation and evaluation of the case above. One reason that brought the family to therapy is the growing feeling of disconnection between the family members. They were drawing much and much further away from each other up to the point that the effects were now outwardly presented and affecting the parents and the children. The disconnection in the family is due to numerous distractions, including mistrust and other objects such as the Internet, computers, and commitments. The family then resolved to therapy to improve communication and resolve conflicts with the view of fixing troubled relationships and marriage. The assessment of the family yielded a new piece of knowledge, which implied Lisa loves her family and friendship more than Li does. The feeling has kept her making attempts to fix the wedding, and her uncertainty has caused her depression and loss of trust and love for her husband.
Theory 1: Solution-Focused Family Therapy
Conceptualization
Solution-Focused Family Therapy is also called Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and Solution-Building Practice Therapy (SBPT). The method was developed in the 1970s by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Franklin & Reddy, 2019...