Respond to at least two colleagues by providing respectful feedback on their plan for the family session. Identify one to two unique factors in the case th

Respond to at least two colleagues by providing respectful feedback on their plan for the family session. Identify one to two unique factors in the case that may make planning a session difficult.  

Use the Learning Resources to support your posts. Make sure to provide APA citations and a reference list.

1-raquel- 

Describe your preparation and plan for a family session with Sara and Stephanie Parker.

To prepare for Sara and Stephanie, it's important to consider the two individuals' sociocultural factors, age, gender, and current mental health status,to prepare myself for possible conflicts (Toseland & Rivas, 2017). Taking both clients' current challenges and concerns with one another, I would create a contract of what the sessions would look like regarding time, place, frequency, and attendance requirements (Toseland & Rivas, 2017). If these two need an Intensive care manager, they need to understand that attendance and engagement will be necessary to see results.  Lastly, I would review literature based on the Bipolar I disorder Stephanie is displaying and then the Dementia and hoarding disorder that Sara is showing. Understanding essential information about their disorders can help to lead the group and identify what issues should be considered (Toseland & Rivas, 2017).

Specifically, what questions would you ask the family and why?

For Sara: 

"Sara, please tell me how you feel about the items that you have around your house?" 

• This shows her that I am taking an interest in her feelings and providing her with space to express herself. I also think it's important that Stephanie hears the emotional attachment her mother has to the items so she can develop an understanding of why it's so difficult for her to throw them out. 

" What do you feel that you need to keep the house clean and remove the excessive items from your house to compromise with your daughter? 

• This shows her that there are changes that need to be made, but that she can have a say in those steps so she doesn't feel as though she has lost control of her actions. 

"What are the goals you would like to accomplish from these sessions with your daughter?"

• This sparks Sara to begin to think about her role in the group session and what she wants to gain from working with her daughter and the case worker (Toseland & Rivas, 2017). It can have her reflect on what she may also need to change on her part.

For Stephanie:

"I understand you have been struggling with depression, can you tell us what emotions you have been experiencing and how it's impacted your life?

• Stephanie needs to acknowledge the impact her recent depressive episode has had on her life and her interactions with her mother. It's also important for her mother to hear what her daughter is currently dealing with. 

"What are your goals that you would like to achieve out of our sessions for yourself and with your relationship with your mother?"

• Stephanie must begin to consider what she wants to accomplish with the sessions and she needs to acknowledge that how she is currently engaging with her elderly mother needs to be improved, and could help their situation. 

How would you engage them?

I would first work on empowering both of these women. They both currently seem to feel powerless over the other's actions, but allowing them to understand they have control over how they engage with one another can significantly impact the outcomes they have when communicating. Actively listen to each of their responses and then reflect on their feelings so that they both can see that I am listening and want to understand what they are going through. Because both women feel judged by the other, creating a space where they feel that I am not judging them but only listening and trying to lead them to a healthy solution that works for them both. 

What kind of conflict or dynamic might you anticipate based on the case?

Sara is slowly losing her memory and, with dementia, can cause severe irritability, so when we begin to discuss her items and attempt to agree on how we can get rid of them, I expect her to become defensive and upset. Stephanie has bipolar I, so there can also be irritability or the feeling that she is superior to her mother and shouldn't have to compromise with her (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). 

References:

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR) (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

Toseland, R. W., & Rivas, R. F. (2017). An introduction to group work practice (8th ed.). Pearson.

2-jessica- 

Prior to the session I would review all material the agency had to include the observations of the initial social worker, the report to APS from Sara’s day facility, and see about getting a release form from both Sara and Stephanie to collaborate with their medical professionals since they both have underlying medical conditions with prescriptions to be aware of and note in their treatment plan with myself and out agency. According to Toseland (2017), “An essential part of evidence-based group work is to search the literature about the group that is being planned, (p. 184).”

Questions I would ask:

To Both:

1. What is the most pressing concern to each of you if you had to choose one thing that has brought me to you?
   1. This will help guide me to what is at the forefront of each of their minds as the main problem they have. I would not want to assume what they are thinking or feeling, it is better to ask directly.
2. How long has it been this conflicted between the two of you?
   1. This will tell me if their fighting is more recent and possibly due to a singular change or crisis in their lives or if this is an ongoing instance and possibly getting worse due to changes in each of their underlying health concerns.

To Sara:

1. Can you tell me and Stephanie what your things mean to you and how it makes you feel when you think about them going away?
   1. This will provide Sara a chance to share her thoughts and feelings and be heard regarding the hot button issue regarding the household situation. It may also provide Stephanie a chance to hear her mother’s feelings when previously without an impartial third party arguing may have prevented that from happening.
2. How do you feel about your home/living situation overall? For example, do you feel comfortable and safe in the current status of your home?
   1. Again, this will provide Sara a chance to give me her thoughts and feeling on her home and give me insight into how her home makes her feel. Sometimes there are underlying reasons people want to live a certain way that has little to do with the actual things.
3. Tell me about your relationship with your daughter?
   1. This provides a chance for Sara to share on this topic which brought me to them and for Stephanie to listen.

To Stephanie:

1. How do you feel about your home/living situation overall?
   1. It’s important to also provide Stephanie a chance to express her feelings and for Sara to hear what she has to say.
2. Tell me about your relationship with your mother?
   1. Like with Sara this provides Stephanie a chance to be heard and express what she needs.

The above questions would provide a good starting point in hearing what both parties are thinking and feeling about their current situation. It would be a good start in assessing the underlying concerns that they may not be aware of as well. Frequently, when you are a person in the conflict you cannot see as clearly or hear as clearly so a third party can help dig deeper by listening to your responses and asking clarifying and deeper questions.

Engagement Strategy

One engagement strategy I would use is to form an alliance with both Sara and Stephanie, so they know we are working together to reach their shared goal(s). According to Ingoldsby (2010), “Families who experience a personal bond with the provider and a collaborative relationship for developing tasks and goals of treatment are more likely to remain engaged in intervention, (para. 8).”  By actively listening to them both and establishing healthy group boundaries and rules together we can form an alliance during their treatment plan.

Possible Conflicts

According to Ingoldsby (2010), “. Staudt (2007)Links to an external site. posited a theoretical framework involving five components: treatment relevance and acceptability; cognitions and beliefs about treatment; daily stresses; external barriers to treatment; and therapeutic alliance, (para. 5).” Each presents theoretical correlation as to why family therapy may breakdown and cease to continue.

In the Parker Family possible relevant conflicts could include things like mental health concerns as both Sara and Stephanie have their own individual mental health difficulties they are individually facing. It is also possible that individually they are at different places or stages in their readiness to change. The latter represents the transtheoretical model in which members are in different stages of readiness to accept and move toward the need for change (Ingoldsby, 2010). In the Parker family case Stephanie is at a place where the hoarding is unbearable for her wellbeing, but Sara may not be ready for that stage of change.

References

Ingoldsby, E. M. (2010). Review of interventions to improve family engagement and retention in parent and child mental health programs. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(5), 629–645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-009-9350-2Links to an external site.

Toseland, R. W., & Rivas, R. F. (2017). An introduction to group work practice (8th ed.). Pearson.