The object of the evaluation is a family who is facing some life altering problems. The family consists of Cheri, a 55-year-old Caucasian female, Mark, a 61-year-old, Caucasian, male and their 24-year-old son Ryan. Cheri earns $21,600.00, has a BS in Liberal Arts education and is a clinically certified problem-oriented life coach. Ryan earns $37,000, he a is currently a graduate student in phycology and works full time as a security guard. Mark has no income; he has a BS in Computer Science and is an ordained minister. Cheri is an ex professional dancer and stay at home mom who is disabled due to heart disease and chronic lower back pain. Ryan is in good physical health but does suffer from anxiety. Mark suffers from obesity and hypertension. Cherie and Ryan both have health insurance.
Mark recently left the family after 33 years of marriage under the pretext of “finding himself.” after nearly losing his life to a Covid-19 infection and related complications. According to the Cherie, their relationship was fine, and her husband’s departure was impulsive and ill-considered. The couple has a son in common, Ryan, who is very helpful to Cherie after what happened and Cherie has come to rely heavily on him. Because of this, he feels as though he is caught between supporting his mother and gaining his own independence. Mother and son are very close; they support each other as much as possible and go through difficulties together. Ryan is very angry with his father and refuses to have any contact with Mark. Ryan’s girlfriend, Samantha, plays a role in this story and provide support to Ryan while Cherie finds joy in her dog Simba. Mark’s brother helps the family financially intermittently. Cherie has strong religious beliefs about marriage, for which she cannot accept that Mark is leaving. Thus, she experiences feelings of abandonment, betrayal, anger and bewilderment.
By taking the Family Systems Stressor-Force Inventory (FS3I) that Cherie responded to, the conclusion is that the family is experiencing many problems. In the first section, the following situations were rated “5” (high-stress level): self-esteem, lack of joint time in the couple, lack of distribution of responsibilities in the family, marital relations, holidays, relatives, and finances. The next section describing the impact of Mark’s care on the health and stress tolerance of family members and the family as a whole requires attention: a score of “5” received four items out of 12. High-stress levels are caused by the situation, affecting family interaction and communication, the family’s normal lifestyle, the family’s ability to work together as a unit, and the family’s future. The next section is the strengths of the family system, with nine of the ten questions receiving a score of “1”, which means there are virtually no strengths in the family. A score of “3” was given to the item of religion, which brings family members together.
Family and marriage are social institutions to which all people are subject. Everyone is included in them in one way or another or at least has a relationship with them as one of the oldest human social formations. An integral part of the everyday life of modern people, marriage and the family have, throughout human history, been of interest to thinkers, scholars, scholars, and researchers (Karimov, 2021). People tend to change: a person who has entered a marriage and been in it long enough may have changed his or her beliefs and outlook on life (Raley & Sweeney, 2020). Misunderstandings that occur in families cause a chain of problems, including psychological disorders (Ardi & Maizura, 2018). That is why it is important to consider all the problems that arise in a marriage and not ignore them.
One problem in this family is the dysfunction of one of the spouses. The emergence of dysfunction in the activity of one of the spouses is because a large amount of undifferentiated emotionality is concentrated in the adaptive position of one of the partners (Keller, 2019). The desire to adapt to the spouse, to his dominant position, is constantly manifested in his behavior. The pseudo-self of the adaptive partner is gradually absorbed by the pseudo-self of the dominant, forcing the latter to assume more and more responsibility for both (Kerr, 2019). The spouse who has been in the adaptive position for a long time gradually loses both the need and the ability to make decisions independently, constantly dependent on his or her spouse. And then, according to M. Bowen, small stress is enough to give impetus to the breakdown of the adaptive partner (Keller, 2019). Dysfunction can result from emotional distress, physical illness or mental health issues.
The next problem noted in the family is the differentiation of self. Self-differentiation is the degree of fusion of emotion and intelligence in a particular person. The concept of “level of differentiation” was introduced by Murray Bowen (Popovic, 2019). Differentiation is a characteristic of the family system as well as individual functioning. Bowen argues that “the higher the differentiation, the better people function. They are more flexible, adaptable to stress, and more free from all kinds of problems” (Frost, 2019, p. 138). The more fused emotions and intellect are, the lower the differentiation and level of functioning. Humans, unlike animals, can make extensive use of their intellect, which allows them to behave rationally even in emotionally stressful situations, to rely on facts when assessing reality, and to be guided by their principles and goals when a decision must be made.
The problem with family projection is present in this case study through the relationship that Ryan and Cherie have. It is the process by which parental undifferentiation harms and impairs one or more children functioning in the father-mother-child triangle (Kerr, 2019). There is some fixed amount of undifferentiation in every married couple. On a more subtle level, the projective process is related to the maternal instinct and the degree to which anxiety allows it to materialize during pregnancy and in the first months of the child’s life. The process begins with maternal anxiety, and the father is supportive in helping her realize maternal anxiety. The child responds to the mother’s anxiety with her anxiety, which she mistakenly perceives as the child’s problem (Kerr, 2019). The parents begin to overprotect the child, converting their anxiety into excessive care for the child. A pattern of infantilization of the child is established, in which the child gradually becomes less independent and more insecure (Chavkin, 2020). Once the process has begun, it can be further motivated by both the mother’s and the child’s anxiety.
Emotional isolation is a huge problem in families. It is a problem that can be decisive in many cases. Speaking of isolation, sociologists have in mind various phenomena, loneliness and feelings of longing among them. For example, in its comfortable amount, ordinary solitude is part of the norm: even an extrovert needs to spend time with himself or herself to replenish resources. If seclusion becomes a problem, when the connection with society and relatives is gradually broken, and a person becomes increasingly isolated (Novotney, 2020). Ryan’s portrayal of Mark’s gradually increasing isolation over the past several years is a good example of the effect that isolation can have on the family structure and how it ultimately resulted in Mark abandoning his Cheri and Ryan and the breakdown of the family. Mark also has a son form a prior relationship with whom he has not contact.
A significant problem in this family is the financial situation. Cherie does not know what her spouse will do next or if he will sell the family home. Mark’s brother helps Cherie financially. Thus, the family’s financial situation is low. The family’s physical condition can be portrayed this way: Mark suffers from obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Cherie has a congenital heart defect and chronic lower back pain, but she exercises regularly and tries to maintain her physical condition. Ryan has an active lifestyle and has no physical health problems. The family’s goal is to recover from Mark’s departure to maintain financial health and fully separate from her husband. Cherie needs to get past this stage and continue to live life to the fullest, doing what she enjoys to avoid psychological problems. She needs to take some of the responsibility off of Ryan and let him live his life to the fullest. She can be prescribed antidepressants to restore her psychological health. Since Cherie’s physical health can worsen under stress, stress reduction through exercising and meditation will be important. Cherie would benefit from counseling to avoid further psychological problems and treat her depression. To achieve her goal of financial independence and security she is working to build her practice as a life coach and further her education. Cherie is also work to become more self-reliant and assume the role that Mark played in dealing with such issues as auto and home repairs or business dealings. Cherie’s short-term goal is to provide tutoring services to generate income and to begin to build her life coach practice. In the long term her goal is that within six months she will have become certified and create a website so as to begin aggressive marketing of her services. Cherie also acknowledges that the expected family development stage is that of helping Ryan to launch (Rowe, 2018), however, with the current situation he is held back by his sense of duty to Cherie to stay at home and, in his words, assume some of the “man of the house” duties. Thus, delaying his personal development. In this regard her goal is to allow Ryan to have more autonomy and to be more resourceful and self-reliant when she does face a situation that she could resolve without involving Ryan. She will not only grow as a person but Ryan will also be more secure in knowing that Cherie can take care of herself and allow him to move to the next stage of his development. Ryan has set a goal of moving in with Samantha after they graduate next fall. Cherie and Ryan have concluded that their pastor would be the logical community resource to provide faith-based guidance and direction as they navigate their changing roles and family structure as well as helping Cherie to reconcile her belief of marriage as forever with her possible divorce and have begun weekly counseling sessions with him. There is also a support group in her church for divorced or widowed members that she will attend weekly for additional support.
This is a resilient family, who is intelligent and introspective with the tools and social support and the desire they will need to overcome and move forward in a healthy manner by utilizing their faith and support of friends and family.
References
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