...According to Worthington (2005), hope-focused marriage counseling consists of a “blueprint” that is reported to help couples to improve their relationship. Based on this blueprint, the marital counseling involves the following components: goal, focus, strategy, target areas, and interventions (Worthington, 2005). The overall goal according to this blueprint is to produce stronger marriages instead of those filled with strain and trouble. Although this is the overall goal, it must be appropriate for each individual within the marriage. The focus component of this blueprint is based on building hope within marriages. Hope can be described according to a three-part theory consisting of willpower, waypower, and waitpower. It has been reported that hope is developed when we have the mental willpower to change and the waypower to reach our goals (Worthington, 2000). God is our source of hope and we are expected to look to Him to help instill hope in our relationships. As a counselor, it is important to have a specific plan or approach to use within the counseling session. Not having a plan in place causes a client to be confused. This goes to show that strategy, the next component within the blueprint, is very important. Worthington (2000) shared that he uses the strategy of “faith working through love” as a way of including God’s approach to helping others. Once a plan or strategy has been established, it is critical that the counselor use the information gathered from the assessment...
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...Hope-Focused Marriage Counseling The number of people seeking help for troubled marriages far outnumbers those seeking help for depression, family tensions, alcohol or drug abuse, anxiety, spiritual concerns, past traumas, or crises. When people seek counseling from their pastor, most frequently it is concerning marital problems. The number of people seeking help for troubled marriages far outnumbers those seeking help for depression, family tensions, alcohol or drug abuse, anxiety, spiritual concerns, past traumas, or crises. Most Christians value marriage. God approves of the permanence of marriage (Malachi 2:14), and Jesus and Paul advocate marriage (Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:2–12; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:10,11). God hates the pain and brokenness that oozes from divorce. Popular culture saturates our minds with the idea that obliterating the bonds of marriage can relieve the pain of marital conflict. In contrast, pastors advocate the virtues of marriage from the pulpit. The Christian who lives with daily marital conflict, hurt, and anger is pinched in a vice. Seeking help from the pastor, troubled spouses are sometimes disappointed when this counseling doesn’t work. Too often, Christians—who are separated, divorced, or living a life of conflict and anguish—twist free by leaving the church. This is not a satisfying solution to marriage partners or to pastors. Six Bridge Planks to Reconciliation Between Troubled Marriage Partners Plank...
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...Sexuality Paper: Marriage Infidelity Abstract This paper will cover the topic of marital infidelity. In recent years divorce has gone over 50% and Christian divorce has grown closer to 57%. Why are there so many couples willing to throw in the towel? Adultery is the cause for many, certainly not all, divorces that occur in our country. There are many reasons why a spouse will choose to stray from the marriage, as well as many reasons for that the marriage should be worked on and saved. God has blessed us with marriage. God wanted us to have a “helper,” someone who could walk through this world with us. God wanted us to have somebody who we could share our joys with and somebody who could keep us focused on His purpose for our lives. Proverbs 6:32- Whoever commits adultery with a women lacks understanding, he who does so destroys his own soul. In the culture of current society the idea of marriages seems to be slipping into being a thing of the past. Monogamy within a marriage seems to losing ground even faster than the idea of marriage. This paper will be outlining the rise of infidelity and the role that society has had in not just looking the other way, but oftentimes praising the act as “human nature.” Is it possible to bring marriage back to its roots, and return the marital bed to one of loyalty, respect, and spiritual oneness? As Carder states, “What is most needed upon the revelation of an affair is compassion and understanding, not condemnation. That the...
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...Course Syllabus COUN 601 Marriage & Family Counseling I Course Description A consideration of the dynamics of marriage and family relationships is given. The emphasis is on under-standing the structure and function of marriage, the various aspects of the marital relationship, family systems, and ways the counselor may approach marriage and family counseling as a creative, preventative, and healing ministry. Rationale This course is designed to cover the numerous and varied marriage and family theories as well as the history of marriage and family therapy. The information in this class is designed to equip counselor trainees for practice and to successfully complete the licensure exam. Counseling 601 is a required course in the 48 and 60-hour licensure programs and is intended to introduce students to the concept and philosophy of marriage and family therapy. Students will be required to understand the systems philosophy and six major theoretical frameworks within the marriage and family therapy field. Students will understand such core content areas as: marriage and family history, key theoretical figures, ethics and legal matters, counseling issues, some techniques, current trends, and future themes. This is the first marriage and family course, thus it is designed to teach foundational materials necessary to pass state licensure examinations. For a more in-depth and deeper level of understanding, demonstration and skill development, the COUN 602 class may...
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...Running head: PSYCHOANALYTIC FAMILY COUNSELING APPROACH Psychoanalytic Family Therapy Counseling Approach Liberty University 2012 COUN 601-B05 LUO Dr. Jenkins Abstract When a family’s environment becomes saturated with chronic conflict the members become unable to achieve a healthy balance and mutual respect. This turmoil needs to be neutralized rather than exacerbated, in order to gain mutual respect for all family members. Family therapy can establish the reduction of conflict among the family system. Sometimes a family member can be diagnosed with a disorder creating anger and resentment among members. The family members’ symptoms can be manifested through fear, anxiety and trepidation with in his or her unique story (Mesh et Al, 2006, ¶ 3). The uniqueness of the family unit can carry through to how this system responds to counseling. A family can benefit from recognizing the signs of panic, anxiety, and or dysfunctional communication. This recognition can allow the family unit to seek counseling to neutralize family conflict and to gain effective coping skills. I enjoyed reading Worthington’s’ Hope Focused marriage Counseling. If their is one thing that I try to accomplish through the Lord everyday with patients and families is to re-affirm belief and give hope. Re-aspiring hope can be used in our life and in counseling as a core Christian value by making God first in our lives. As Christian counselors this means teaching others to continuously seek his...
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...The institution of marriage takes hard work and sometimes even though couples work hard to maintain a happy healthy relationship, they encounter issues that they cannot address alone and may need help. There are many well trained counselors that seek to aid couples in their area of need and even the professionals sometimes have to adjust in order to aid in their healing. Couple counseling just as any counseling takes hard work and dedication. The intake process is vital to the couple’s outcome and what’s even more important is how the counselor addresses the couple’s issues after the intake process (Ripley & Worthington, 2014). It is important for counselors to figure out the best treatment to fit the needs of the couple specifically. Ripley provides four questions to aid in those treatment decisions; they will be referred to as AFTR. AFTR stands for appropriate, fit, typical and relevant (Ripley& Worthington, 2014). After reading this week’s lesson the question that stood out most states: Is couple counseling appropriate for this couple? Of the four questions, the most important is the question of appropriateness because in order to begin any treatment one must first find the issue and provide the best resolution according to those issues. Couple therapy can be contraindicated as determined by research studies and discussions amongst clinicians (Ripley & Worthington, 2014). The text breaks down different circumstances in which a couple may need to seek a different form of treatment...
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...relate to each other, whether negative of positive, defines who we are as a family. We convey by physical and emotional example how the family is to thrive or sometimes fail. Using open-ended family-focused questions to interview a family provides insight into the function of the family system (Rentfro, 2014 p.150) Summary of Functional Health Patterns Findings Nora and Vince are neighbors who, after nine-and-a-half years, are entering into a trial separation. They have been in counseling for two years. Nora is 48 years old Caucasian female. Raised in Boston upper middle-class, she is of Irish descent. She sees herself as a transplanted East-coaster. She was adopted as a child as was her only brother. Her birth mother was obese and suffered from diabetes, drug addiction and hypertension. Nora is five feet two inches and weighs one hundred and sixty pounds. She enjoys decorating her home and cooking. She has no children of her own but is an aunt and fulfills the role of grandmother to her husbands’ daughter’s children. Vince is a 49 year-old-male. Five feet nine he weighs two hundred twenty-five pounds. He is of Puerto Rican and Philippine descent. He has three daughters, two are stepdaughters from a previous marriage that ended in divorce, and one is the result of that marriage. The father of the stepdaughters has never participated in their care and Vince is the only father they know. His first wife died of cancer after the...
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...The purpose of the following paper is to display understanding and interpretation of counseling theory into personal practice and learning. In this paper, I will demonstrate awareness of multicultural competence through a depiction of a fictional client as well as of myself as the counselor using Hays’ (2007) ADDRESSING model. I will apply Feminist Therapy as the foundational theory to my approach and two additional theories including solution focused and cognitive behavioral therapy to the fictional client’s case. I will conceptualize the fictional client’s case by applying the corresponding techniques and terms to meeting the specific needs of the clients. I will conclude the paper with specific therapeutic goals for the fictional client and assess the limitations to the incorporation of multiculturalism within the therapeutic approach. Fictional Client My fictional client is named Amber Fleming. Amber is a 20-year-old junior in college. Amber has an eating disorder in which she...
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...Theory Paper In partial fulfillment of the assignment submitted to Dr. Max Mills PACO 507 Theology and Spirituality in Counseling Lynn C. Ball Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary May 8, 2015 Abstract I stumbled through the first thirty-eight years of life attempting to mask the hurts caused by myself and others. I was my own worst critic fueled by raging addictions and chaos; searching to find a perfection that could never be achieved. Life was a hurricane of madness and at the center of that storm was the Father waiting for me to give Him my whole heart. The purpose of this paper is to show through those who have been studied, the textbooks that have been read and my own opinions; the counseling methods and theories I have developed from life experiences, six years of sobriety and a maturing walk with Christ. Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………2 I. Summary Primary Goal……………………………………………………………………………4 Development of Problems and Personal Need………………………………………….4 Biblical Integration……………………………………………………………………...6 Formula for Change……………………………………………………………………..7 Balance of Theology and Spirituality…………………………………………………...8 Human Personality………………………………………………………………………9 Counselor’s Function and Role…………………………………………………………10 Major Contributions to Counseling……………………………………………………..11 Limitations of this Counseling Theory………………………………………………….12 Classification……………………………………………………………………………12 II. Practical Application Practical...
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...Running head: COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Abstract Counseling has been in existence from the beginning of time. From Jethro to Freud, therapists and philosophers have been seeking insight into the core of human nature and cognitions. Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT) recognizes that faulty cognitions and beliefs affect the behaviors of individuals. One method of cognitive-behavior therapy, reality therapy, incorporates the concepts of free choice and personal responsibility that are taught both in Scripture and Dr. William Glasser’s choice theory. Other aspects of CBT, such as cognitive restructuring and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), also work towards eliminating negativistic attitudes of clients in exchange for more effective and realistic methods for interpreting the situations experienced in daily life. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy It is suggested that an individual’s personality is a complex system of cognition, emotion, will, physiology, and spirituality. Hawkins proposes nine aspects of the human self to be active influences on one’s personality: “body, cognition, feelings, volition, human spirit, Holy Spirit, sin/flesh/SAS, temporal systems, and spiritual systems (Hawkins COUN507_BO1_200920). Each therapist individually determines what factors they believe to make up a person’s being. Larry Crabb views humans as involving both the physical and spiritual aspects of man...
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...The student is a licensed clinical social worker. Currently, she works at a psychiatric hospital where she assess patients and refers them to the proper units or facilities in which they may receive treatment. This paper helps the student to understand the role she will play in the church community as a pastoral counselor. She will seek to identify ethical boundaries, Paradigm for Identity and Ethical Boundaries, future partnerships, and pre-counseling paperwork. Paradigm for Identity and Ethical Boundaries Paramount in any ministry is the need to adhere to a biblical code of ethics and the standards set forth; that is, a minimal standard that identifies oneself as a competent and trustworthy Christian worker. These standards are largely found within the context and framework of the Bible. As a biblical counselor or pastoral counselor it is important that one adheres to the word of God and recognizes the importance to maintain ethics and boundaries. This is to ensure that the worker is not operating according to their own flesh, but by the will and purpose of God. However, this is not a goal one can obtain on their own. In order to successfully do this one has to be connected to the Vine, in good fellowship with God, and listening for His voice when working with counselees. Trull and Carter (1993/2004) present the following items as essential boundaries for the establishment of this student-counselor’s biblical professional paradigm: 1. Education – The pastor will prepare...
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...Introduction: The Definition of counseling according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary is as follows: “professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Personal guidance of a helper is one of the most essential characteristics of an effective counselor. Along with, patience, being a good listener, compassionate, being non-judgmental (unconditional positive regard), empathetic, discrete, self-aware and being authentic. Effective counseling occurs only when there is a mutual understanding between the helper and the client, which by information sharing and exchange...
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...Outline of Week Five Cynthia O’Brien COM200 Interpersonal Communication (ACM1546D) Instructor: Reginald Doctor December 7. 2015 Congratulations Allan and Jennifer this letter is to help you learn essential communication skills. With education and learning interpersonal communication skills, I hope to pay it forward so you and Jennifer will not end up in the statistics of a failed marriage. As you may know, educators are focusing on communication skills personal and professional. This letter will go over core competencies to keep the doors of communication open at all times. By identifying barriers to effective interpersonal interactions, the process of self-concept developing and maintaining strategies for managing relationships, personal conflicts and the strategies to avoid them also define emotional intelligence and the role to have an effective interpersonal relationship. Communication is a shared meaning the essential purpose of human communication is to allow people to generate and share their thoughts, feelings, experiences, beliefs, opinion, or anything they can think to express (Bevan, & Sole, 2014). Communication is a development it involves two or more individuals. Reading in Bevan & Sole (2014) “A communication theorist David Berlo describe communication as a continually evolving interaction or activity that changes each of our relationships to one another over time” (Section 1.1). Although you might find a day that you do not want to talk...
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...marital satisfaction and longevity can be challenging when passions are high and couples are in a constant state of flux due to verbal confrontation, or gender-role conflict. Keywords: marital conflict, marital longevity, conflict resolution and marital Satisfaction. Effects of Unresolved Conflict on Marital Satisfaction and Longevity Within the binding bonds of marital bliss, there is a dynamic that occasionally rears its ugly head; conflict. There have been married couples throughout time in memoriam who have declared that conflict does not reside within the confines of their marriages. (These are “the avoiders,” they will be discussed later in this composition.) If this is true, then how does a marital relationship survive if each partner impedes the value of differentiation while still remaining true too, and loving the person with whom they are joined in marriage? Conflict celebrates difference and in doing so, the efficacy of conflict resolution must play a pivotal part in bringing both parties full circle to the point of empathic effort and accuracy toward marital satisfaction and longevity. It is the presence or absence of conflict-related behavior and emotion that best predicts relationship...
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...Models or Theory of Helping Carol Holt University of Phoenix BSHS 312 Chelie Byerly-Saffeels July 23, 2012 The Theory of Helping In this paper our team chose to do the model or theory of helping on the Adlerian therapy. The team will be discussing the history of the development of this theory, the beliefs on which this therapy is based, The important contributors of the theory, the theory of helping, the relationship the helper and the client, the kinds of problems that can be addressed with this theory, the population on which this technique is used. The multicultural issues in using this approach as well as what we have found during our research for the Adlerian therapy. The History: The history of Adlerian Theory was inspired by Freudian psychoanalysis. The foundering philosopher and psychiatrist was Alfred Adler (1870-1937) born in Vienna and later came to the USA in 1934; it was reinforced and strengthens by Rudolf Dreikurs in America. It was circulated throughout American elementary schools during the guidance movement by Don Dinkmeyer. (Adlerian Psychotherapy, 2009, para. 3) The Adlerian Theory started with Adler addressing the crucial and contemporary issues as equality, parent education, the influence of birth order, lifestyle, and the holism of individuals” (a.ukn., 2012, Para. 1). Theory Beliefs: Adler started his theory on the belief that we all have one basic desire and goal: to belong and to feel significant. Adlerian Psychology...
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