Study on Family Play Therapy Assessment and Parental Consultation

• Main Authors: Wu,Li-Yun, 吳麗雲
• Other Authors: kao,Shu-chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/09446095159014834521

博士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 輔導與諮商學系所 === 98 === The purpose of this study is to investigate the function and effect of a family play therapy model with family counseling focused on child behavior problems. This study analyze the patterns and meanings of the family members’ interaction, contents of parental consultation in the family play process, and their experience in joining family play therapy. Two families participated in an Adlerian approach family play therapy assessment model for seven sessions. This included a parents intake interview, five family play therapy sessions and parental consultation. The five sessions of family play therapy were tape recorded. After the family play therapy sessions and parental consultation concluded, the children and the parents attended the interview respectively. In addition, a follow-up individual interview was conducted one month after the first interview. All the data was analyzed by using the Consensual Qualitative Research. The findings of this study are presented in the following: 1.Family play therapy can be utilized to assess the patterns of interaction in the family. Based on the assessment of the two families in the study, it shows that “each family has a different family atmosphere”. The atmosphere of the two families varied with how much they involved and how often they interacted with each other. Thus one is enthusiastic; another is cold. Moreover, it also presents control-submit conflict on Couples. After the parents conflict, parents form an alliance with children resulting in Parent-Child Triangulation. The parents’ conflict elicits the parent-child coalition conflict, “the conflict of marriage gives the children negative influence”. The following are further descriptions of the two families according to the assessment. “The inappropriate parenting style such as rigid controlling and discouragement reinforced the children’s problem behavior”; “The values and goals of family affect children’s mistaken goals”; “focused child and their siblings all present the goal of misbehavior.” For example, the siblings in family A attempted to get attention and struggle for power. Similarly, the siblings in family B attempted to seek revenge as well as to get attention “Assess the family member how to percept their status and significance in family from the family constellation.” The siblings who are in different birth order and gender had power struggle conflicts. There was a difference in intimacy between the parents and children. The focused child was left no choice but to become disengaged from the family. “There are circularity of negative interaction between focused child and their family members” “Each family has its advantage.” For example, if in the family relationship, the parents are willing to cooperate with their family and put in effort to overcome the children’s problems. Moreover, parents can be made aware of and then modify their view to cope with it. The individual member has advantages and positive characteristics. 2. The contents of parental consultation in the family play therapy are as follows: (1) The communication and issues raised in the parental consultation were based on the five family play therapy sessions, such as the play process interwoven with the therapist’s assessment, encouraging parents to recognize and be aware of the goals of children’s misbehavior as a motivational typology, reframe focused children’s problems, and empower advantages for the family and encourage parents. (2) Parents become more aware of the family member’s interaction patterns and behavior and thus understand them better. For instance, parents are aware of family members’ behavior, the role of family, and the interactive pattern of intimacy by the family constellation. Also, they become aware of the factors that affect family atmosphere as well as the influence of the family atmosphere on children. Parents are able to appreciate family members’ strength and characteristic. (3) The discussions about parenting styles include the following aspects: encourage parents to cooperate with each other on parenting, reflect how inappropriate parenting styles create a vicious circle on children’s misbehaviors , develop appropriate parenting skills based on the results of the family assessment, and how participating in the consultation help parents with their problems. What is more, participants in the consultation even took the initiative to ask questions. 3. After participating in the family play therapy, family members gain the following experience: “family play therapy provides family members with special ways of interacting and understanding each other”. The family presents the epitome of the interaction among family members; it also provides enjoyable, undefended ways of interaction among family members, which create great family opportunities to understand each other, bring to family the hope of positive changes, and confirm the effect of family evaluation and parental consultation. “The family members’ insistence and inviting, and to what family members attribute their problems and how distress they are affect members’ involvement in family play therapy.” “Family play therapy helps family become more aware of the family member’s interaction patterns and behavior.” Parents become aware of how their behavior and parenting influences their children, thus causing the major problems to transfer, of how their treatment of their children elicit competition among the children, and of the psychology of their children and the goals of their children’s misbehavior, and of the fact that they should pay their attention to the whole family system rather than focused children. The changes caused by family play therapy have the following influences, including providing family the momentum towards positive changes in many ways. Family members have a better understanding of and closer relationship between each other, making each member change in positive ways. “The following expectations” include facing the dilemma: whether to change or not, and the implementation of family play therapy in the future. The results and analysis offer some concrete suggestions to practical workers of counseling, parents and researchers.