...Hope-Focused Marriage Counseling In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Course Pre-Marital Counseling (PACO 610) February 18, 2010 Summary Worthington has an approach that is dependent largely on the empathizing of the counselor rather than the willingness of the involved (xiii). The essentials of this approach are the couples’ willingness to be expressive in their affection only while continually being reserved in reactions to provocations. Apparently, there is a chemical reaction which cascades more negativity (xxv), and the positivity to negativity ratio needs lots of boosting (47). The importance of the marriage relationship is that it is the only picture of Christ and His people that exists on earth. If this institution can be defamed, then it distorts the picture of Christ and His bride (17). Despite this, many cannot fathom the hundreds of dollars that it would take to potentially save their marriage even after thousands of dollars are spent on a wedding and tens of thousands of dollars would be spent on a divorce (22). There are differences between good counselors and bad ones—theoretically (29). However, let there be no mistaking that the counselor is an external influence in this process and he or she will not fix all of the problems right away or apart from the couple (42). Moreover, the success of these counseling times is dependent upon the couple’s ability to visualize what resolution they desire (56) with one issue at a time (59). ...
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...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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...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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...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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...to be lost. Love, relationships, marriage, etc. have all begun to be swallowed by the notion that in order to be successful in this world, your full attention, time, and money must be put into your career. Before the 20th century, life was simple and universal. Men “brought home the bacon” while women stayed at home washing dishes, cleaning the house, raising children, and cooking meals. Most married a stayed married. Divorce was highly frowned upon and therefore never happened. However in the turn of the century, the age of technology and equal rights activists have brought a large change in the way our society is run today. Nearly half of all marriages now end in divorce and very few last more than four years. Not all of this is due to the selfishness and desire to stray from monogamy as most would think. Much of it has to do with the fact that people are so consumed with being all they can be and not putting in the time required to have that special connection with another human. eHarmony was created to provide a way for members of society to easily meet potential significant others and “date” over the internet while not sacrificing time in their workplace. The initial response of the public was wary. People felt embarrassed that they had to use technology to find that special someone rather than go out and do it on their own. However, soon the site began to catch on. eHarmony’s marketing technique focused on finding marriage rather than relationships and advertised...
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...This is where they notice and become frustrated by what their partner is not doing to satisfy them. Where previously they had focused on each other and making each other happy, they are now more focused on self. During this stage, couples may question whether they married the right person. If a couple doesn’t learn to communicate how to navigate through these differences, they could turn to unhealthy ways to escape the pain and disappointment. It is during this stage the Laasers point out the addict, for example, will revert back to their previous way of...
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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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...Shakespeare writes, “Let me not to the marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments. Love is not love/ Which alters when it alteration finds,/ Or bends with the remover to remove.” Shakespeare believes that true love is only achieved if it can survive the challenges that come its way. In the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the protagonist, Ethan Frome endures challenges in both his relationships with Zenobia Frome, his wife, and with Mattie Silver, Zenobia’s visiting cousin. In the novel, Ethan is unable to fight for his relationships, and therefore, they never last. (According to Shakespeare Ethan’s relationships with Zeena and Mattie were never ones of true love). Zenobia, or Zeena, becomes ill, which interferes with her relationship with...
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...opposite sexes and trained themselves to be sexually repressive through the lack of intercourse; however, the Puritans encouraged sex within the bounds of marriage and emphasized their government to be structured through their beliefs and views of intimacy. The narrative begins explaining the views of sexual intercourse in the Puritan colonies. They emphasized that sex was a pleasure that was to be enjoyed through the use of the Marriage Bed founded by the nature in man (18). It was completely forbidden outside of marriage, and was propagated to have a penalty of death if adultery was to be committed. In conjunction, within a marriage, sex was also treated in line with other pleasures of life. During fasting, sex was also abandoned with food and drink. It was stressed that sex was to be centered to glorify God. In addition, if sex was conducted in an excessive manner, it was frowned upon similar to other displeasures such as drunkenness and gambling to which was believed that no other looks to a higher end than the pleasure itself; not God. During this time of colonization in New England, cases of sexual offenses within the villages had grown more excessively than once believed. One reason for the abundance of sexual offenses was the number of men in the colonies who were unable to accommodate their sexual desire in marriage. Many had...
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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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...Recovery Model in MFT Steven W. Place Northcentral University Recovery Model in MFT The Recovery Model Introduction If the famous quote by Heraclitus, “The only thing that is constant is change,” is true, then one must wonder how the mental health field resisted change for so long. In light of the modern age, characterized by scientific methodologies, the mental health field advanced rapidly. Amazingly, the human condition could be put to test, understood and categorized. Sadly, anything falling outside the “norm” became “abnormal.” Once a person was identified as “abnormal,” they were the lucky recipients of a label they carried with them for life, or until they “recovered.” Mental health labels carry with them a certain stigma that communicates to the person they are different, perhaps less of a person and that “normal” may never be a reality with their “illness.” Recovery would be based on becoming symptom-free, or at the very least, a significant reduction in symptoms (Gehart, 2012). The mental health field has experienced tremendous growth in terms of understanding the plethora of conditions people experience, as well as in treatment of those conditions. However, one thing remained unchanged until recently. The idea behind recovery shifted from coercive treatment to person-centered change (Onken, et al, 2007). Gehart states is this way, “instead of using the medical paradigm of disease, the recovery paradigm approached mental “illness” using a social model of disability...
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...I’ve always thought of myself as the type of person who always tries, tries to do well in school, tries to help people, tries to do things that will benefit myself in the long run. I’ve always focused greatly on my schoolwork because, being reminded at a young age, I was told that my parents will present no aid in helping me pay of college. So I focused on my school work in order to pay off for paying for college. My GPA accels over a 4.0 and my experience with balancing four AP class and a social life is more impressive than you think. I’ve always had a passion for helping people and school, so I concluded that I want to be a teacher, specifically in English. I really connected with the subject of Language Arts mostly because there can never...
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...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 righteousness and helping them to totally rely on Him. Most of our clients will have the resources and means to take care of them selves, but we must teach them that if they value God they will rely on him to take care of their needs. We can teach our clients that we value God when we acknowledge that he knows better than we do on what we need in our lives and in our partnerships. As future...
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...Head, Tom “Interracial Marriage Laws; A Short Timeline History” Web. http://www.civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/t p/Interracial-Marriage-Laws-History-Timeline.htm This article is an interesting history of regulations regarding interracial relationships and marriages. The United States and its Colonial processors had banned miscegenation centuries ago to prevent mixing of races. In 1667 the first British laws was passed in Maryland to prohibit marriage between Whites and slaves. It also mandated enslavement of any White woman who marries a black man. In 1691 Commonwealth of Virginia bans all interracial marriages and if a White marries a person of color, he or she would be exiled. Maryland soon followed suit. In 1780, Pennsylvania repealed such laws to gradually abolish slavery. in 1843 Massachusetts became second state to repeal miscegenation laws. In 1883, “Pace v. Alabama”, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules that state-level bans on interracial marriage do not violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. constitution. The ruling held for more than 80 years. In 1922, Congress passed the Cable Act, which prohibited marriages between Whites and Blacks and Whites and Asians. In 1964, “McLaughlin Vs Florida” Supreme Court rules that bans on interracial marriages violates 14th amendments. Finally in 1976, Loving Vs Virginia, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned “Pace Vs Alabama”. In 2000 Alabama became the last state to lift this ban. Judice, Cheryl...
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...compile a factually based discussion, a key area needed to be focused on, namely, how social changes affected the gender roles in the early 18th century (1832-48). Furthermore detailing how the change challenged traditions and ideologies of the then rather prominent English common law, and the normative principle’s that surrounded motherhood. The Critical sources that bear the utmost relevance to the challenging social content that the tenant demonstrated are Monica Hope Lee’s essay a mother outlaw vindicated: social critique in Ann Bronte’s the tenant of wildfell hall. Nineteenth century gender studies. (4.3), 1-12. And chapter 2 from, Macdonald, T (2015) the new man, masculinity and marriage in the Victorian novel. London: Routledge. Both critics, attempt to dichotomise the tenant of wildfell hall in order to get representative discourse that outlines the social changes in question, moreover they seek to disclose how Bronte summarises her own personal perception of gender ideals in the regency culture, and how she displays openness and vision, as opposed to becoming a shrinking wall flower hidden in the shadows of sporadic sunlight, with a masked existence, and blind endemic to the upper-class hierarchies of society. Furthermore they offer an insight in to how the shift in social position and hierarchical relations altered the female identity, focusing on the two most significant events to ensue in a woman’s life, marriage and motherhood. In the period that the tenant was inscribed...
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