Joyce and David had been married for only eight months when they reached out to a family counsellor for help. Both partners were in their late 20s. Joyce is a business executive, and this is her first marriage. David had been divorced for a year when he met Joyce at their workplace. They decided to get together. David has a four-year-old- daughter, Kiri, who lives with his ex-wife as she holds the care and control rights of the child.

The family problems began shortly after Joyce and David's wedding. Kiri was sent to David and Joyce's home as David's ex-wife Zen had some personal issues. David took his parental responsibilities seriously, and welcomed the opportunity to be with Kiri daily and played an active part in Kiri's upbringing. He considered having a new marriage and his daughter to be a perfect family, which he failed to achieve in his previous marriage. However, Joyce was not sure what to expect as she had no experience with children at all. She was eager to share parental responsibilities if that made her husband happy.

Kiri was not an easy child to live with. She appeared to be clingy to her father, and rejected Joyce. David felt sorry for Kiri and became very attached to Kiri. Joyce soon felt she was saddled with an instant family in which she was regarded as an outsider. David called Kiri daily at work, while he only spoke to Joyce very briefly. David thought that Joyce only needed personal space to do her work and spent significant time with Kiri, instead of being with Joyce. When David came to know that Joyce was jealous of Kiri, he deemed Joyce as a spoilt child herself, competing for attention with a four-year-old. He viewed Joyce more of a 'dutiful daughter' than a 'dutiful mother'. Joyce deemed David as a self-centred person, and did not spare a thought about her mother.

During a joint session, David spoke of being raised by a widowed mother as an only child, and how central it was for him to feel having a perfect family. He grew up ashamed of telling people about him coming from a single-family background. In fact, he harboured grouses for his father's drug-use leading to his passing, when David was in lower primary school. Joyce, on the other hand, felt that David did not allow her to develop a relationship with Kiri, expecting her to love her instantly and give in to all her demands. Joyce was raised by a divorced mother in a disengaged family, where both of Joyce's two older brothers lived separate lives and they had no contact with one another for a few years. Joyce has been dutifully looking after her mother. Sometimes, she would spend time overnight with her mother as she felt sorry to leave her mother alone after her marriage.

The counsellor proceeded to reduce the heat between the couple, and he asked the couple to describe their own histories of child- rearing. The information would be useful as David appeared to be confident of parenting Kiri, while Joyce agreed that she could learn from David about parenting. The counsellor also negotiated that they be willing to listen to what the other had to say without injecting or explaining away their perspectives.

You have been asked by your counselling agency to take over the case as the previous counsellor would have to be away for months.

 

 

Refer to the case and answer the following questions. 

2a)  Reframing is one of the universal techniques used in counselling, especially in family counselling. Develop the core purposes of reframing in family counselling. 


 

Background info about the question: 

Reframing is putting the presenting problem in a perspective that is different from what the family brings, and is more workable. Typically, this involves changing the definition of the original complaint from a problem of one person, to a problem of many persons within the family. Within such a frame, the counsellor can request family members to enact alternative transactions. 

 

Essential elements of therapy

 • Reframing (similar to positive connotation in Milan therapy - critical component for change)

 • putting the presenting problem in a perspective that is both different from what the family brings. This involves changing the definition of the original complaint, from a problem of one to a problem of many 

• reframing is usually subtle and may not require an elaborate explanation to the client why reframing is done 

• E.g. reframe a family's perspective that a member in the family is the problem bearer to it being a family issue, and everyone contributes to the happening of the presenting problem

 

2b)  Demonstrate and show your reframing statements (as if you are talking to David and Joyce in a family counselling setting):

 

2bi. reframing of how you match the couple's current interpretations of each other's behaviours with strategic reframing. 


 

2bii. reframing of the presenting problem using the narrative approach.
(10 marks) 

 

2c)  Using family life cycle perspectives to answer the following questions: 

 

i. Discuss THREE (3) critical developmental components in the family life cycle for the four-year-old daughter to grow up well in this family. Support each developmental component with scholarly journals.
(10 marks) 

 

ii. Infer TWO (2) possible vertical and horizontal level  stressors that David and Joyce might be experiencing. 
(10       marks) 


 

 

d) Systemic hypotheses are often used in family therapy. Construct THREE (3) systemic hypotheses about the contributing factors for the current issues. Support each hypothese with scholarly articles. (9 marks) 

 

e) Examine the advantages and disadvantages of forming hypotheses in this case. (put in scholarly journals to support the points) 6 marks