Family Trauma

This assignment will require you to apply your clinical knowledge and skills to create a Family Treatment Paper. You will select a family and analyze their dynamics in a therapeutic context, outlining the focus of treatment, interventions, and measurable progress.
Step 1: Select a Family
• Choose a family for your paper.
Select a movie/film/documentary from the list
Movie/Show Options for Family Treatment Paper

1. Select a movie/documentary/show from the following list

o 3 Generations
o Wonder
o The Pursuit of Happyness
o Instant Family:.
o Precious
o White Oleander-
o Missing Mom (2016)-Documentary available on Prime
o Switched at Birth (the series) Minimally view episodes 1-4
o The Fosters (the series) Minially view episodes 1-3
o Parenthood (the series) Minimally view episodes 1-2
o This is Us – Choose 1 Family

2. Be sure to view the entire movie/show at least one time before conducting the
   assessment.
3. You do not need to use timestamps unless you are doing a direct quotation.

Step 2: Please Review the Following Family Treatment Paper Guidelines

• Please do not use more than 2 direct quotations from cited sources.
• However, it is important to write the paper in narrative format rather than answering each section as ‘questions.’
• Please include at least 6 peer-reviewed sources (excluding textbooks or websites). Government, medical facility, or academic websites are acceptable.

Heading 1: Family Introduction (6 points)
In this section, introduce the selected family and provide the background necessary to understand their dynamics.
• Family Overview (2 points)
o Introduce the family from your selected movie/show. Provide a brief synopsis of the show/movie. While you may briefly provide an overview of the show/movie, use this section to discuss the family dynamics, issues, etc.
o List key family members and their roles/relationships.
• Family Strengths & Challenges (2 points)
o Identify new strengths and challenges for this family.
o Focus on foundational strengths that will support treatment and challenges that need to be addressed.
• Protective & Risk Factors (1 point)
o Identify protective and risk factors in the family system. These factors should be integrated into treatment. Your family assessment asked you to provide this information initially. However, between sessions, clients grow and change. You can include one previous central risk and protective factor that carries over to treatment, but you should also identify at least 1-2 new ones.
• Cultural & Diversity Factors (1 point)
o Discuss any cultural or diversity factors that are central to the family’s functioning. Address their implications for treatment. Consider these factors in relation to treatment which is different than the assessment phase. You should be able to identify at least one new cultural and diversity factor.
Heading 2: Focus of Clinical Attention & Treatment (8 points)
This section identifies the focus of your clinical attention, specific problems, and treatment approaches.
• Problem Identification (3 points)
o Identify 2-3 key problems in the family system as perceived by the family. Include evidence from the show/movie regarding how these problems were identified.
o Are there conflicting views among family members? If so, discuss them briefly.
o Discuss whether or not your assessment of the primary issues align or conflict with the family’s perception.
• Focus of Clinical Attention (3 points)
o Identify at least 2 concerns that you clinically assess based on the family’s challenges.
o Choose 3 specific problems to focus on in treatment. Think about how you can conceptualize the overarching problems, based on individual member input, their collective needs, and your assessment. For example, the children in the family might feel as though they ‘cannot talk to their parents’ and the parents might perceive the children as always ‘having an attitude.’ An example of an issue that may be clinically assessed by the therapist and mutually-agreed upon could be strained communication.
o For each problem, provide observable symptoms/behaviors that support this focus.
• Ethical and/or Safety Considerations (1 point)
o Address any ethical considerations that may affect treatment delivery. This is only required if applicable. If there are no ethical or safety concerns, briefly share how the therapist would assess/rule out concerns in about 1-2 sentences. For example, in an IPV partnership, where both partners want to attend therapy together with their children, it would be unethical and unsafe to hold sessions with the perpetrator and victim together.
• Initial Session Referrals (1 point)
o Identify non-clinical and/or individual clinical needs warranting separate referral or assessment during the initial Consider medical needs, individual counseling, or other referrals that may be necessary. Remember, the goal is to address priority needs without overwhelming the clients with additional services or referrals.
Heading 3: Literature Review (6 points)
In this section, summarize relevant peer-reviewed literature to inform your treatment planning.
• Literature Review
o Review theoretical perspectives and approaches that address the 2-3 primary problems you identified.
o Discuss key cultural and diversity factors.
o Discuss any risk and protective factors.
o Summarize the research, noting key themes and gaps in the literature.
• Theoretical Framework Selection
o Based on your literature review, choose a theoretical framework to guide your treatment plan. Briefly explain why this framework is the most appropriate for your selected family.
Heading 4: Treatment Theory & Approach (7 points)
This section applies your chosen theory to your clinical treatment approach.
• Theoretical Framework (3 points)
o Discuss the theoretical framework you have chosen to inform your treatment plan.
o Explain how this theory has been used in other studies with similar families or populations.
• Application of Interventions (4 points)
o Identify 1-2 interventions or strategies for each clinical problem.
o Describe how you would apply these interventions to your selected family.
o Provide an example of how you might need to adapt the intervention to accommodate cultural/diversity factors or other family dynamics.
Heading 5: Measurement & Assessment (5 points)
This section outlines how you will assess the family’s progress.
• Family Progress Evaluation (3 points)
o Discuss ways to measure family progress based on the problems identified earlier.
o Identify observable behaviors or changes that will help measure progress.
• Assessment of Intervention (2 points)
o Reflect on the interventions you have selected.
o Identify at least one strength and one challenge in applying these interventions to your selected family.
o Consider cultural/diversity factors or special circumstances that may affect the effectiveness of the intervention.
Heading 6: Personal Reflection (3 points)
Reflect on your experience with this assignment.
• Identify which section was the easiest for you and explain why.
• Identify which section was the most difficult and discuss any challenges you encountered during the process.