Whitaker Approach, Essay Example

Following Whitaker, experience is foundational. In this case, the child’s problems seem to be quite clearly linked to the experiences of the family. The family has recently undergone a number of changes which could be quite stressful to a youngster: the mother going back to work, the move to a larger home in a different part of town, and the fact that the grandparents no longer visit as often. The fundamental issue is relatively obvious: these changes have caused disruptions in young Brenda’s life that have deprived her of comfortable realities she enjoyed previously. The fact that the bed-wetting happens principally on Sunday night, before her parents and especially her mother go off to work, and on Monday night, the night thereafter, essentially confirm this. The experiences of the family must therefore be taken into account in order to follow Whitaker’s symbolic-experiential therapy (Becvar & Becvar, 2013, pp. 158-164; Gehart, 2014, pp. 183-184; Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013, p. 241).

The task of the therapist is to discover the family’s own symbol-laden language, including not only how they interact with each other but also how every person perceives these interactions in their own heads. Atheoretical, the Whitaker approach is a growth process. In this case, the goal would be helping Brenda in particular, but the family in general as well, to grow in a way that overcomes the distresses caused by the changes in circumstance. Establishing a rapport with the family, the therapist should seek to foster both autonomy and togetherness, a key paradox in the Whitaker approach. Using paradox, the therapist tries to actively escalate the problem in order to produce the kind of crisis that will impel the client to reintegrate in a more healthful fashion. In this case, that means encouraging Brenda’s bed-wetting, redefining it as a growth effort, as well as “augmenting the despair of a family member”, “utilizing affective confrontation”, and the like (Becvar & Becvar, 2013, pp. 162-163). This includes the entire family—preferably three generations—and brings about resolution (p. 163).

References

Becvar, D. S., & Becvar, R. J. (2013). Family therapy: A systemic integration (8^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Gehart, D. (2014). Mastering competencies in family therapy: A practical approach to theory and clinical case documentation (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Goldenberg, I., & Goldenberg, H. (2013). Family therapy: an overview (8^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooke/Cole Cengage Learning.