According to Murray Bowen - "family functions as emotional systems where each member implemented the others”
The psychological health of an individual depends upon the social and emotional environment and family relations
Clinical and observation skills is a systematic way of noticing behaviour, emotions, interactions and environmental factors of a client.
Areas to be observed during parent family interactions
1) Child factors – emotional expression , behaviour , attachment styles and communication style
2) Family factors – interactions , conflict management, corporation and decision making skills
3) Parent factors – parenting styles, emotional regulation, patience , tone of voice and responsiveness.
Eg : In the series Mrs. Deshpande , her childhood trauma and abuse made her a serial killer when she grew up.
BODY
Family Systems Theory:
Family systems theory suggests that families are interconnected systems. Individuals cannot exist in isolation. The behaviour of an individual depends upon his or her family system.
8 important concepts are :
1) Differentiation of self: it is the ability to think individually while staying connected with the family.
2) Triangles: it is a process when the problem arises between two people in a family, the support of a third person in the family is taken to resolve that conflict.
3) nuclear family emotional process: marital conflict, improper functioning of one spouse, impairment in children and emotional distance are 4 main reasons due to which problems can occur in a family system.
4) family projection process: it is a process in which parents transfer their problems to the children, making the children vulnerable to various anxiety issues.
5) multigenerational transmission process: this suggests that belief , patterns of behaviour ,etc. are passed from one generation to another.
6) Sibling position: it suggests that the pattern of birth order impacts the role played by an individual in their family.
7 )Emotional cut off : it suggests that when the issues in a family are not solved the individual completely cuts off from the family rather than resolving the issue.
8) Societal emotional process: it suggests that the emotional forces that drive the family also drive an individual’s interaction with the society, for example crime.
Parenting styles:
4 major types of parenting style are:
1) authoritative: in this warmth and control both are high
2) authoritarian – where the warmth is less but the control is high
3) Permissive – where the warmth is high but the control is less
4) Neglectful: where warmth and control both are low\
Attachment styles:
4 major attachment styles are
1) secure attachment: in this form of attachment the child trusts the care giver
2) Anxious attachment: in this form of attachment the child has fear of abandonment and seeks reinsurance from the care giver.
3) Avoidant attachment: in this form attachment the child avoids the close contact with the caregiver and suppresses his or her emotions .
4) Disorganized Attachment: it is a form of conflicting attachment style where the child seeks comfort as well as fears the care giver
Some important points while connecting with the families are
1) active listening
2)Rapport building
3) showing empathy
4) asking open ended questions
5) non judgemental attitude
For example: This concept can be understood through a story of Kdrama It’s okay to not be okay which is a romantic south korean drama which also highlights the impact of childhood trauma on the mental health of an individual. It shows the psychological burden that people carry and the courage required to overcome them.The drama follows the story of Moon- Gang- tea, a selfless psycho ward caretaker and Ko Moon young an antisocial writer.
Moon kang tae spends his life looking after others and suppresses his own desires and faking happiness. One of the reason for poor health of Moon kang tae was that his single mother mainly focused all her love and attention on his older brother Moon Sang tae. His older brother Moon Sang tae has Autism Spectrum Disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. The reason behind PTSD was the trauma of witnessing the murder of his mother.
Ko Moon Young’s mother was an abusive novelist who treated her daughter badly. Her mother isolated her from the world. Her father tried to strangle her when she was young in order to save her from becoming like her mother. She struggles to understand love and is completely isolated from the world due to her childhood trauma.
This suggests that the family patterns and environmental
Factors contribute to poor mental health of these characters.
In this case the therapy will not be given to the characters alone but also to their family members.
An individual does not exist in isolation. The psychological health of an individual depends upon the family relations and his/her environment.
So for psychologists it is important to understand family relations ( family systems theory ,attachment theory, parenting styles ,etc.) of a client.