Selecting an Evidence-Based Change Strategy Document This document will include five major sections. Each section is detailed below: Also attached are documents needed to use and reference to complete

Family Assessment Outline

Background Information (approximately 1 paragraph)

The family was a self referral by the mother Trista. She wanted assistance with her family and thought that counseling would be a good way to get everyone together with an outside person to help with the many issues that are going on in her home with her children and husband. Trista contacted me and informed me that she was able to get her family to agree to meet for a session and we were able to schedule to meet all together on 10/28/2019. The assessment for the initial session was held in my office Brookhaven Counseling Center. The entire family showed up at 8pm on 10/28/2019.

Family Structure and Development (approximately ¾ page)

The family consists of dad, John, mom Trista, one son John Jr and two daughters Suzette and Lizzette.

John Sr is 52 years old and the provider of the family he works as a site supervisor at WIAC Industries. He has worked there for over 15 years. Trista is a 48 years old and a child care owner, she operates Shining Stars DayCare and have been busy for quite some time and she is planning on opening a second location. John Jr is 18 years old and a student still in highschool, he graduates this year and plans to go to Albright University in the Fall.

As for Lizette she’s 22 years old recently just graduated out of college, her major was Social Work. She just got offered a position as a case manager with at risk-teens.

Suzette is 24 years old and have graduated out of college two years ago, she plans to go back for her MBA. She is currently working as a Branch manager at PNC Bank.

Trista and John Sr. have been married for 20 years. None of the children are in serious relationships. Suzette and Lizzette are just dating at the moment. They have ties to their extended families on both sides and tend to see them during special occasions like holidays and events.

Initial Presentation (approximately 2 paragraphs)

During initial visit the problem that came up is John Sr expressing that his daughters need to move out of the home into their own place. He states that they went to school, graduated college and now have jobs where they should be able to go out and support themselves instead of him supporting them. Trista sees it another way, she wants her daughters to stay home for however long it may take for them to get on there feet and then move out. She doesn’t want to feel like she is pushing them out and she actually like having the children home. In turn the two girls are feeling unwanted by their father and John Jr is starting to act out due to all the tension in the home.

The family stated that these issues have been going on for about two years now and it’s starting to just get worse and worse. Tensions are high in the home and it’s very tense everyone agreed.

The family appeared tense during session, everyone had a different expression they shown. John Sr appeared to not want to be there or hear the girls out. Trista appeared overwhelmed with everyone's behavior, John Jr was very calm and appeared slightly nervous since he didn’t speak much and Suzette showed that she was annoyed by sighing and rolling her eyes and Lizzette appeared fidgeting throughout the session. .

As time went on throughout the session and the family got to express their emotions/feelings they loosened up a bit.

Family Functioning (approximately 1 page)

John Sr is the lead of the home, everything has to come through him first and Trista is more the nurturer and supportive one. And the children's roles in the home is doing what is told of them and with the two eldest maintaining a job and John Jr attending school.

The family is stable in regards to there are no economic stressors within the household, they are not struggling to keep a roof over their head or food in the fridge.

But as a family unit there is a disconnect amongst them in the household, the family lacks in a variety of areas. One being love and affection, that isn’t very much in the home with one another. Trista expresses she tries to be affectionate but it’s a fail at times. John Sr states that he takes care of everyone and that his family knows he loves them and that he doesn’t have to say it all day. John Sr states he wasn’t raised that way to be all affectionate, love was shown in how you took care of your family. Suzette expressed that growing up in her household showing affection just wasn’t a big thing and since it wasn’t really displayed she’s not comfortable showing it that much. Lizzette agreed to this as well and John Jr states he watches his father and believed affection and love is shown through how you care for your family. Another issue within the home is communication, no one listens to each other due to the yelling that is associated with communicating. When issues due arise someone usually walks/storm away and that’s it. Nothing is resolved or discussed just swept under the rug. Trista states that the yelling and arguing amongst the kids and John Sr is sometimes unbearable. Lizzette and Suzzette reported feeling like they are not being heard, that their dad is to strict and they are grown trying their hardest to do the right thing but it doesn't get recognized but instead feeling like they are being pushed to get out of the house. John Jr states he feels like he’s caught in the middle due to being there for his sisters and having to obey the rules of the house.

Intervention History (approximately 1-2 paragraphs)

There have been no family interventions within the family. John Sr and Trista have separately from the kids did marriage counseling a few years ago. Trista stated that’s why she thought it would be a good idea for the family to do counseling due it being helpful in the past with her and John Sr. Trista believes when her and John Sr had an outside person to help them talk through things and be able to hear each other out in a different setting than their own it was an eye opener for her as well as John Sr who stated he was able to develop better listening skills in their marriage and having that mediator person helped. Trista has tried to have family meetings in the whole to try and alleviate the tension in the household, but they haven’t gone so well in the past due to no one really listening to each other.

Family Strengths and Challenges (approximately 2-3 paragraphs)

The strengths of the family is that the household is pretty stable in regards to the family all working besides John Jr who goes to school full time. No one is slacking in handling their responsibilities. The family all do care and love each other and want the best for one another but at times that gets mixed up with the issues they may have with one another.

The challenges in the family is that John Sr and Trista have different parenting styles and they don’t agree when it comes to parenting their grown children. Another challenge is how they communicate with one another, a lot of yelling/arguing but not a lot of listening and understanding one another or respecting.

Due to this the family do not partake in a lot of together activities due to the tension and frustrations of each other in the home.

Summary of Family Structure and Functioning (approximately 3-4 paragraphs)

In the Harris family Trista reached out to me for help with her family problems that are currently occurring in the home. She stated that she would like to partake in family therapy and the whole family was open to it. The father John Sr wants his adult daughters to move out the home, Trista wants them to stay as long as they need to, to get on there feet and she enjoys them being there. Suzzete and Lizzette feel like there father is trying to kick them out of the house and feel unwanted and John Jr is caught in the middle of siding with his sisters and obeying his father.

From initially meeting with the family is that they do care and love each other they just lack how to show that to one another. John Sr feels he is trying to set his daughters up for independence and being on their own, so it may come across as tough love but believes it’s what they need and Trista is caught in the middle with trying to please John Sr and the children and staying neutral. As for the children they feel unheard and like no one understands how they feel or where they coming and mom plays both sides so that too is sometimes frustrating.

Going forward I would like to see the family once a week over the course of 6 sessions to focus on communication skills and create a better functioning home environment. Sessions will be broken to give every member at a time a chance to speak individually then focuses on the family as a whole. There will be some homework tasks that will be given to work on during the week.

I recommend five sessions of family therapy once a week and, focusing on family relations, engagement and communication within the family system. Each session will be broken down to mini-segments aimed at each family member and the rest of the session will be focused on the family as a whole. Homework will be given weekly for the family to work on outside of sessions.