Reference no: EM133192289
ADDICTION FAMILY CASE STUDY
Carl Fletcher
Grand Canyon University: MFT - 532
February19, 2020
Addiction Family Case Study
A call is made to the office of family therapy services. It is a lady who hesitates to give information; she is interestedin the cost, cancellation policy, and the time of attendance. She mentions that her family is going through some tension and wishes things could change. She is married with three children.Her main interest is for her husband to take part in family therapy, and theyare scheduled for an appointment.
The family attends the first appointment. The lady's name is Caroline,and her three children are Ben, Christine, Chip, and her husband, Johnson.Caroline explains the situation of her family since 2017 when Johnson started battling with addiction. The case is worse since his alcohol intake has increased. It seems like Johnson is overwhelmed with the happenings in the family. Caroline has just been promoted this calls for additional commitment at work; Ben just joined campus; hence he is no longer at home. Christine has some weird behaviors both at home and in school.This could be issues running in Johnson's head thinking how to handle them all being the head of the family
Caroline narrates that her husband no longer has time for his family since he is ever out drinking. Johnson arrives home very late in the night since he goes straight to the bar after work. He is totally addicted and even distracted in his undertakings (McNeece&DiNitto, 1998). He has neglected his job too. Last month he did not submit a project; this has led to his supervisor complaining and has been advised to take work seriously. Caroline has been quiet about all these changes since she fears to tarnish the family's image to their friends, neighbors, and the other relatives, although some are already aware. She evades and denies discussing this issue to help Johnson (Cruse, 1989). Johnson doesn't seem to realize how his addiction has affected everyone.
Ben their eldest child is handling this issue quietly; most of his concentration is on the phone, laptop, and social media. Christinefits in the role of a scapegoat and defends herself with her father's addiction while she quarrels with everyone. Chip, the last born, is humorous, and that's his way of hiding the pain and fear he feels inside due to the nature of his family.In this case, every child has found away of coping with their father's addiction. The children wish that Johnson's situation could change and seek medical help since things are getting worse and eating up the entire family.
According to the therapist, the threechildren have developed denial systems of protection against the harsh reality of their parent's addiction. They may be experiencing feelings of fear, anxiety, abandonment, anger, guilt, or embarrassment. They wish to ignore or disconnect themselves from their father. This as well happens with the Neighbors, coworkers, and friends experiencing substance effects since Johnson is now unreliable and neglects work too. Caroline presents a radiant, healthy look to the community while deep inside issues of her husband's addiction lie below the surface.
Abuse of drugs can cause detrimental consequences like violent behavior, neurological impairment, among others. The best way to handle this issue is for Johnson to seek treatment in rehab centers or drug abuse counselors as well as the family to start therapy. The family needs to work together to bring all members into treatment and restructure the maladaptive patterns of interactions that are inter-related to the problem of substance abuse.Johnson and his family need to seek a therapeutic community approach, as advised by their therapist. These are group-based programs where every member participates in recovery orientation that concentrates on drug abstinence, change in lifestyle (De Leon 1986). Members encourage one another to become prosocial and engage themselves in living the right away.
Using the case study you started in Topic 1 and added to in Topic 5, write a 500-700-word follow-up case study about your family that illustrates how this family has adapted to sustain improvement through the recovery process. Be sure to include the following in your case study:
- A description of how the family has adapted
- Risk factors demonstrated by the family
- Protective factors demonstrated by the family
- How individual changes contributed to the family's process