The Cooper family is made up of four members. Each member is presenting symptoms that are an indication of underlying mental problem that need to be solved by a counselor. The problems of each member have been identified below:
Identification of Client and Presenting Problems
Mathew: One of the presenting problems displayed by the client is his chronic over sensitiveness and edginess about his place in the family hierarchy. The problem has arisen due to differences in earnings. His wife Susan earns more than him and thus feels that his role in the family is being overtaken. Susan in this case cannot be described as a client because the problem does not affect her. She has the right to work hard and earn more money. Mathew is also a perfectionist.
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Susan: Susan is a perfectionist. She is obsessed with doing things in the right way. Her husband is also a perfectionist and he could be contributing to her nature. Mathew can also be classified as a client in this case because he is also affected by the same problem.
Savannah: Savannah is also a perfectionist just like her parents. She is obsessed with having things that she perceives are right. She wants to feel in control every time and is thus affected when she is not the best in her classroom and when she does not have a perfect body. She is thus obsessed by her academics and weight. Her hyper concern with her weight leads to her weighing herself several times in a day. Her problem is as a result of upbringing. Her parents are perfectionists and could have influenced her to behave in the same way. In this case, her parents are also clients. Savannah also displays symptoms of a problem when she went into the privacy of her room and started cutting her arm with a scissors. Milton had destroyed her assignment.
Milton: Milton has a misbehavior problem. He does not follow rules and is thus in constant problems both at home and at school. He slaps students in school, cannot concentrate, does not complete her homework, and carves his name on the school bus. At home, he is constantly playing violent video and computer games. Her father contributes to Milton problems because he describes them as trivial hence does not see any need for him to be corrected. He is a client in this case. He needs to be counselled on how to take care of his son.
Description of Underlying Problems and Potential Mental Health Diagnosis
Mathew’s problems are as a result of his culture. He is living in a patriarchal society where the man is regarded as the head of the family and thus has to show it by providing for all the needs of the family. His culture requires men to have more money than their wives to have a voice in the family. He thus feels that his roles in the family are threatened because his wife is earning more money than him. He is thus edgy and oversensitive about his position in the family. His perfectionist nature can be attributed to his upbringing or his society. Susan has a problem of being a perfectionist. Her problem could also be as a result of her upbringing and the society in which she was brought up. There could have been a lot of competition thus molding her to become obsessed with doing things in her own way that she believes is perfect.
Savannah is a perfectionist because of her family upbringing. Both of her parents are perfectionists and have thus influenced her. She is obsessed with her academics and weight. These symptoms point out to a personality disorder. She could be having obsessive compulsive disorder. The disorder often leads to obsession and repetitive behavior (Diedrich & Voderholzer, 2015). Savannah is also involved in self-injury. She harms herself after getting annoyed by her brother who tore up her assignment. She could be suffering from personality disorder, particularly borderline personality disorder. The disorder leads to highly impulsive behavior and extreme emotional reactions (Sayal et al., 2018). Milton also has underlying problems that are leading to his misbehavior. He could be suffering from a personality disorder. His hyperactivity points out to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Milton is thus unable to follow instructions despite how clear the instructions are presented.
Presenting Problem from a Family Perspective
Families are cohesive and emotional units. What one person does affects the other members of the family. Cooper’s family problems start from the top. Mathew and Susan are having marital problems that could be affecting how they are bringing up their children. Susan is overly concerned with her work hence living almost all family responsibilities to her husband. Mathew and Susan are also perfectionists and their behavior has affected their daughter Savannah. She has become overly sensitive with the things that she does thus affecting her relationship with other members of the family. Milton’s misbehavior is affecting the whole family. His father is constantly contacted by the school over his misbehavior. Milton habits also affect the family at home. For example, he has interfered with her sister’s assignment. The behavior of the members thus affects all the members in the family.
I would use Family Systems theory to assess, analyze and develop a treatment plan. The theory states that families function as a unit or system (Becvar & Becvar, 2017). Each member of the family plays a specific role that they have to fulfil in order to accomplish certain tasks. There are rules that have to be followed for the family to live peacefully (Sexton & Lebow, 2015). The behavior of each member affects the other members of the family.
Identification of Unique Needs
Each member of the family has unique needs that need to be fulfilled. Mathew needs to be reassured that her family role is not under threat despite her wife earning more salary than him. Susan problem of being a perfectionist need to be treated. Savannah needs to be treated from being a perfectionist and how to avoid self-injury when annoyed. Milton should undergo therapy sessions to treat his hyperactivity.
Culture of the Family
The family comes from a society that is patriarchal. Men are the head of families. Their role as head of family is strengthened by their capability to provide for the family needs. The society expects the husband to provide as the lady is involved in taking care of the family (Rothman, 2016). The parents have a duty to guide the children so that they grow into responsible adults. The main cause of the problem in the family is culture and societal expectations. It is expected that Mathew earns more than Susan. The problem is seemingly causing marital problems. Society expects girls to have a particular body to be considered beautiful. As a result, Savannah is overly obsessed by her weight. The problem of patriarchy leads to increased sensitivity by Mathew.
Child and Adolescent Culture
Culture strongly influences the development of children. In this case, Savannah is affected by adolescent culture in her society. She feels that to be considered beautiful, she has to maintain a slim body. She is thus obsessed by her weight. She is constantly engaged in exercises and checks her weight several times in a day. The problem is a result of societal expectations and peer pressure. The obsession impacts on the family dynamics since Savannah does not participate in other family roles since much of her time is taken by her obsession to keep a particular weight. It may also influence the type of food eaten in their home.
Intervention
Coopers’ family has a problem that makes all of them clients. I would thus use a family therapy. The intervention will help in addressing any history of family stress that is related to the behavior that is being displayed by the clients (Sexton & Lebow, 2015). The family does not have a clear communication structure that can be used to address their needs. The therapy will thus assist them in learning how to communicate in a more direct manner (Becvar & Becvar, 2017). It will also teach them to be open to one another. In this case, the problems are caused by the insecurity of Mathew due to Susan’s job. The intervention will help address the oversensitivity through open and direct communication.
Section 2
The journal entries done throughout the course have helped me to gain considerable knowledge on social work. As a social worker, I will play an important role in protecting vulnerable children and adults. I will help people to cope-up with and solve their problems in life. In particular, I realized that my strengths lie in working with children. As a clinician, I will be involved in diagnosing children problems and providing them with solutions that enable them to grow up into responsible adults. My biggest strength is my ability to empathize with children and understand their problems. Children are sensitive hence a social worker should be able to properly understand the needs of the child. I am able to make children comfortable so that they share with me their problems freely. My interactive skills help me to provide therapy to the children within a short period. They understand my style and are able to follow my therapy regimen.
The course has helped me to gain more understanding on intervention theories that I will use in my practice. I have learnt various intervention methods that will be helpful in the provision of therapy. Some of the interventions that I have perfectly mastered include psychotherapy, dialectical behavior therapy, post-traumatic stress therapies, group therapy, and family therapy. In particular, I love working with the family therapy because it helps in addressing all the underlying problems that contribute to problems in children and adults’ lives. I have also learnt about various medications that can be used alongside the therapies. For example, depressed people can be provided with antidepressants alongside the interventions. Other medications include anti-anxiety medications and low dose antipsychotics.
I would like to further enhance my skills in the areas of group therapy. At the moment, I feel comfortable counseling people individually compared to group therapy. Developing my skills in group therapy will help me to engage more in family therapy sessions thus helping members of a family to recover from problems that they face in their relationships. The course has helped me realize that I can work well with children. I am, therefore looking forward to working in learning institutions where I will be providing counseling sessions and therapy to school-going children.
References
Becvar, R. J., & Becvar, D. S. (2017). Systems theory and family therapy: A primer . Rowman & Littlefield.
Diedrich, A., & Voderholzer, U. (2015). Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder: a current review. Current psychiatry reports , 17 (2), 2.
Rothman, B. K. (2016). Beyond mothers and fathers: Ideology in a patriarchal society. In Mothering (pp. 139-157). Routledge.
Sayal, K., Prasad, V., Daley, D., Ford, T., & Coghill, D. (2018). ADHD in children and young people: prevalence, care pathways, and service provision. The Lancet Psychiatry , 5 (2), 175-186.
Sexton, T. L., & Lebow, J. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook of family therapy . Routledge.
