Assessment of Families PDF

Assessment of Families Assessment of Families  In the Beginning 1. Determine the overall purpose of the meeting. Why has the family been referred to you? 2. Decide on specific issues to be addressed during the meeting. 3. Contact a family memb...

Assessment of Families Assessment of Families  In the Beginning 1. Determine the overall purpose of the meeting. Why has the family been referred to you? 2. Decide on specific issues to be addressed during the meeting. 3. Contact a family member to set up an appointment time. 4. Locate the family’s home. 5. Decide how much time should be allotted for each meeting.  The First Meeting Many family social workers prefer to meet with as many family members as possible. Clients may try to exclude family members from this first appointment. They may request that the social worker see only the child with the problem. The general rule is to include as many family members as possible in the first appointment because the number of family members present at the first session can predict who will be involved in future sessions. The presence of more family members also means that multiple perspectives about the problem could be offered, but the social worker must be careful not to only listen to one person’s view of the problem. The first meeting should be time-limited, focused, and relaxed.  Purpose of Family Assessment 1. To assess whether a family will benefit from family work 2. To identify what specific changes are needed 4. To identify family strengths and resources 5. To identify specific cultural concerns of the family 5. To collect baseline information 6. To select interventions 7. Most important: assess the problem and engage the family in problem solving.  Children at the Assessment Parents often mistakenly assume that because a certain child is not the “problem,” that child does not need to be included in the session. Asking each child a question such as “Can you tell me what you are worried about?” can bring on a lot of information and sharing of feelings. Therefore, family social workers must be sensitive to the dynamics of the whole family and consider all members’ needs when conducting meetings.  Follow up Telephone Call Telephone follow-up between sessions can be a good idea because many parents have additional questions after thinking on the interview. They also may have been in crisis, and a check- in phone call might prevent the crisis from deepening. If the family social worker initiates telephone contact, she can be more helpful to parents who worry about asking “dumb” questions and are reluctant to bother the family social worker with problems.  What to Look for in the first meeting Basic Patterns: look for repetitive ‫ متكرر‬verbal and non-verbal communications among family members. Conflict: Pay attention to conflict, who gets involved in disagreements? Other Patterns: where family members sit (who do they sit close to or not close to), who speaks for family members, or  Assessment of Families The family social worker should introduce herself and explain the agency’s purpose. Description of the agency is especially important if the client is not familiar with the agency. The family social worker explains her role, including responsibilities and limitations of involvement. Common questions include what the problem is, what is causing the problem, and what can be done to change the situation. How The social worker collects information? by encouraging participation by every family member. This involves getting to know names, understanding how each family member understands the problem, and making it important for every member to speak. The social worker should understand and respect the family’s cultural practices.  Effective Assessment and Intervention 1. Focus on family needs 2. Respect client autonomy 3. Avoid creating dependency- empower clients instead. 4. Keep professional relationships but show empathy and respect 5. Set realistic expectations 6. Work at all levels of the ecosystem, particularly the micro and mezzo levels  Collusion ‫ تواطؤ مؤامرة‬during Assessment When there is family conflict, family members may try to get the social worker to side with them in and how they view the problem. The family social worker should expect this will happen. She should avoid collusion by empathizing with individual viewpoints without colluding ‫ تواطؤ مؤامرة‬or siding with anyone. Family work involves a balance between staying neutral and sensitivity to individual experiences.  Confidentiality ‫السرية‬ Guidelines Do not discuss clients outside of the interview. The only time it is appropriate to discuss clients is in a private setting with your supervisor or colleagues, for example, in a professional case conference. If a client is not at home when you call, leave only your first name and say nothing about the nature of the business. Do not take phone calls from other clients during your sessions with other families. Ensure that every interview is private and conducted in a private setting out of the hearing of others. Before linking a family to other community services, the family social worker must obtain permission unless a law has been broken (such as child abuse).  Circular Patterns ‫ أنماط دائرية‬and Defining the Problem A practical way to assess and intervene with families is to observe and address circular ‫ أنماط دائرية‬patterns. (see Chapter 3) When a family has relationship difficulties, it is often because they are stuck in repetitive ‫متكرر‬ patterns. They are unable to respond in a new or different way and the pattern has become a habit. Because family members are unaware of the pattern or they lack the skills, they are unable to change.  Types of Family Questions: Lineal, Circular, Strategic, and Reflexive Questions Lineal questions ask for basic information and what has happened over time. A causes B assumption or look for a cause or explanation for the problem. Example: “How long have you been experiencing this problem?” – do you love your mother? Circular questions, ‫ استجواب دائري‬are based on circular causality and the connections among family members. Problems are seen as due to patterns of communication. Circular questions will focus on behaviors and effects of behaviors as well as differences between family members. How does your son show his love for his mother? How do you make sense between his behaviour at school and at home? Reflexive question: Encourages the client to become self-aware. The social worker gives an imaginary, future situation and asks the client how he or she could solve it. Perspective of others is also explored. “What would your sister say you could do differently?” ‘let’s think that there is something he wants to share with you and that could be very hurtful to you, how could you show him you can take it?’ Strategic questions are directed at change, and are based on the family social workers’ assessment of the situation. Example “Could you try to see her point of view?” ‘can you see how your withdrawal can get your wife frustrated?’  Circular Questioning ‫استجواب دائري‬ The purpose of systemic couple or family therapy is to invite the couple/family to understand the connections between their behaviors. Asking about how their relationship system currently operates, how it operated in the past, and how it might operate in the future) gives us information about differences. Often a husband and wife blame the other for their problems. Questioning helps each person to think about their own part in the relationship and that both partners are involved in their conflicts. Circular Questioning ‫استجواب دائري‬ To understand relationship differences, and how a relationship ‘system’ works, we need to use questioning that allows us to focus on the relationship, or the whole system rather than the individuals that make up the relationship. Circular Questioning ‫استجواب دائري‬ allows us to question the relationship. Individual Questioning: Open Question What are the first symptoms you notice about yourself when you become depressed? Circular Questioning: ‫ استجواب دائري‬Focusing on the Relationship When Amna becomes depressed, what does Rashid do?  Circular Questioning ‫استجواب دائري‬ Examples Between People: “Who, between the two of you, most believes that John (the husband) is mostly responsible for these arguments? “ Aspects of a person: “When you are unhappy with what’s happening in this relationship, which part is more likely to take over: your rational side, or your emotional side? “ Between Situations: “Is this relationship happier at home …or on holiday … or elsewhere?” Across Time: “How might this problem change in the near future … medium future … long term future? “ Sequence of Interaction Questions: Where is she or he when this happens? What does he or she do? Then what do they do? Who notices first? How does he respond? When she or he does not do that (problem definition), what happens? Assessment Tools  What to Assess Two kinds of information necessary for family assessments include content and process. Content is information given to the family social worker. Process refers to how family members interact with one another and the patterns you observe between members.  Where does the problem come from? Genograms can be used to help families figure out where and why they might be having problems. For example, a genogram can show if family members are too enmeshed A genogram can also show if one family member is isolated or the "scape goat" ‫كبش فداء‬ or person "with the problem"  Eco-Maps While a genogram shows the internal dynamics of the family, the family’s external dynamics ‫ ابعاد‬and relationships are represented on an ecomap. This map shows family relationships with the outside world (ecosystems) and shows the strength and quality of external connections and areas of conflict with the family. Ecomaps also show the flow of resources from the environment to the family, as well as problems and unmet family needs.  Family Drawing Ask a family to create a family drawing together. Family members can also draw their family separately, and the portraits of individual family members can later be compared and discussed.  Family Time-Line This is a simple line that shows important family events according to date. Events such as parents marriage, deaths, births, periods of illness or unemployment, moves, divorces, and so on can all be shown on a single time line. A time line can help the family social worker quickly pick up a lot of detail about a family’s history. Family members can rate these events as stressful, positive or negative through a numerical scale or + or -  References Collins, D, Jordan, C., and Coleman, H. (2013). An introduction to family social work, 4th ed. New York, NY: Cengage. Richardson, D. (2016). Circular questioning in systemic counseling. Retrieved from http://waterloovillecounselling.co.uk/2016/05/17/circular-q uestions-in-systemic-counselling/