Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies.

Posted: December 7th, 2022

Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies.

Assignment 1: Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies
Although structural therapy and strategic therapy are both used in family therapy, these therapeutic approaches have many differences in theory and application. As you assess families and develop treatment plans, you must consider these differences and their potential impact on clients. For this Assignment, as you compare structural and strategic family therapy, consider which therapeutic approach you might use with your own client families.Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies.

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Learning Objectives
Students will:
• Compare structural family therapy to strategic family therapy
• Create structural family maps
• Justify recommendations for family therapy
To prepare:
• Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide on structural and strategic family therapies.
• Refer to Gerlach (2015) in this week’s Learning Resources for guidance on creating a structural family map.
The Assignment
In a 2- to 3-page paper, address the following:
• Summarize the key points of both structural family therapy and strategic family therapy.
• Compare structural family therapy to strategic family therapy, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each.
• Provide an example of a family in your practicum using a structural family map. Note: Be sure to maintain HIPAA regulations.
• Recommend a specific therapy for the family, and justify your choice using the Learning Resources.

Note: The School of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The sample paper provided by the Walden Writing Center provides examples of those required elements (available at http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/57.htm). All papers submitted must use this formatting.Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies.

Structural versus strategic family therapies Key points of structural and strategic family therapies Structural and strategic family therapies are two psychotherapy approaches applied within professional environments. They are intended for application in addressing conflicts within families. A key feature of the two therapies is that they are based on systems thinking, which views the family as a unit comprised of members who form subsystems (Nichols, 2014). Through applying systems thinking, the two therapies present the idea that every problem affecting a family is the result of an issue affecting one or more family members then spreading to the rest of the family. The concern is from the fact that family members have close blood and kinship ties that act as the focus for mutual concern. In applying systems thinking, the two therapies assume that family functioning informs all behaviors by the individual family members. Also, they assume that every family is characterized by diversity that creates opportunities for conflict. Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies.Given this understanding of families and their sources of conflict, the two therapies present the idea that professional psychiatry can present a platform for addressing conflicts in families through the application of objective and scientific treatment processes that are moderated by trained professionals (Thompson, 2016). Comparing structural and strategic family therapies The comparison of structural and strategic therapies reveals that they share some similarities and have differences. There are three similarities noted in the two therapies. The first similarity is that they are based on systems thinking whereby a family is a single unit with the family members acting as components that make up the family unit. As such, any problems experienced by one family member would cause him/her to not function properly as a component and end up affecting the whole family unit. The second similarity is that they apply revolutionary psychotherapy ideas and approaches to address dysfunctions in families. They function on the premise that although other family members are not directly involved in the dysfunction and they are not its cause, they are part of the solution since it affects them (Thompson, 2016). The third similarity is that every family is inherently hierarchical in nature with the hierarchy being based on a logical format that could be power structures, communication patterns and interpersonal relational styles. An individual’s position in the hierarchy determines how he/she affects others to create conflict. Persons at the top of the hierarchy have greater impact than those at the bottom of the hierarchy (Sperry, 2016). The two therapies have three differences.Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies. Firstly, structural therapy is restricted to the scheduled sessions while strategic therapy maintains contact outside the therapy session. Secondly, structural therapy evaluates the family structure in order to resolve the identified conflict since its views the conflict as maladaptive dynamics while strategic therapy evaluates relationships to develop the solution. Thirdly, structural therapy explores functional expectations while considering the solution to the conflict as incidental rather than intentional, while strategic therapy deliberately seeks a solution (Thompson, 2016). Structural family map CA FJ MS CPR This is a nuclear family with four members. The father is in jail. The mother has been incapacitated by sickness. One child suffers from substance use disorder while the other child is pregnant. No family member is consistently in charge at home. The family members are chaotic and enmeshed with no clear roles and no effective personal boundaries. Structural therapy is appropriate for the identified family. Based on the map, the areas that need changes are visible. In fact, the map helps in determining the type of intervention required and how to restructure the family. In this case, there are two issues to be addressed. The first issue is to provide treatment to the child suffering from substance use disorder. Next, the therapist would be involved in the family dynamics, and strengthen the family structure while effectively promoting change so that each family member has clear roles, effective personal boundaries are presented, and one family member becomes consistently in charge at home (Wheeler, 2014).Structural Versus Strategic Family Therapies.