Presenting Problem Carla and Tomás initially sought out therapy in order to improve their communication. Since their first appointment, Tomás has undergone a transition from female to male. As a result, Carla now feels like she is losing her identity as a lesbian. I believe that this loss of identity, is not due to Carla and Tomás’s relationship, but the perceived impact of the community. Currently, there is a strong assumption amongst our community that if someone identifies as lesbian, that means that both they and their partner would be female. Even though we know this assumption isn’t always true, it clearly has an impact on Carla, as she states “When we are out in public, we are read as a straight couple. It feels so weird to me”. While the current situation, has been having a large impact on Carla’s identity, it is also drastically impacting Tomás. Instead, of being able to fully embrace himself, I hypothesize that Tomás has been positioning himself as a burden. The fact that his response to Carla’s feelings is an apology, indicates to me that in the moment he is feeling responsible. Additionally, the fact that he says he has been bringing her “unnecessary hardship” further establishes that idea and indicates he has been feeling that way for a while. Therapy In working with this couple, my first step would be to deconstruct their presenting problem. I can make as many assumptions as I want, however, what is important is how the clients view their story. Until I talk with them, I will not truly know the assumptions, social constructs, and discourses that influence their story. By deconstructing the problem I am able to learn and further define these assumptions and how they helped to develop the problem. I am also able to learn how the problem arose and its’s influences on each party. During the process, of deconstructing the problem, I will additionally be working on mapping the influences on each partner. Knowing how the problem affects each partner is important, as it will help later on in the externalization process. By knowing the toll the problem has on each partner I can get them to work together. For this particular couple, we are talking about problems that the clients may feel are heavily embedded in their identity. Even though I see the problem, as the problem and not a part of Carla or Tomás, they may not be ready to see that yet. Because of that, this teamwork will serve as a good starting point. It will also be very important that I keep the focus of our conversations away from self-attack, blame, or judgment. The ultimate goal being to establish the problem as an entity separate from Carla and Tomás. During this process, in addition to keeping the conversation away from blame, my role as the therapist would be to maintain a curious stance. In doing this I would be a curious listener, question their assumptions, and try to make space for different possibilities to emerge. By getting Carla and Tomás to work as a team and using this curious stance to explore new possibilities, we will be able to establish inconsistencies. These inconsistencies are going to be moments that have occurred, where their previous problematic story isn’t true. Often called sparkling moments or unusual outcomes, these inconsistencies will serve to help us develop a new story for the couple. Essentially, what would be happening is through acknowledging the sparkling moments Carla and Tomás are understanding that their preconceived story is changeable. They will hopefully no
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I really liked how it felt like a marriage between the structure of Bowen or Psychodynamic models and modern viewpoints. I loved that it focuses on the client’s meaning of the world. I find that this is inline with my own thoughts on the client being the expert and me as the therapist, promoting a curious stance. I can also imagine this model being useful in multiple faucets. With a goal that is to essentially, change the way that clients view themselves you could help in otherwise hopeless situations. For example, let's take a single mom working three jobs, who has barely any time to see her kids.This mom could come with a story that she is a horrible mother and leave with one where she is proud to be working hard for
I really liked how it felt like a marriage between the structure of Bowen or Psychodynamic models and modern viewpoints. I loved that it focuses on the client’s meaning of the world. I find that this is inline with my own thoughts on the client being the expert and me as the therapist, promoting a curious stance. I can also imagine this model being useful in multiple faucets. With a goal that is to essentially, change the way that clients view themselves you could help in otherwise hopeless situations. For example, let's take a single mom working three jobs, who has barely any time to see her kids.This mom could come with a story that she is a horrible mother and leave with one where she is proud to be working hard for