A six-year-old boy in the midst of a traumatic situation attending a counseling session for a stepsister to help her heal from addiction to drug abuse is the role I played.
The boy does not understand why, because most of the time she is with both parents, there is so much attention paid to the stepsister. As a result, her sister does not understand what the family is doing for her, and tries to avoid attending the counseling sessions. The boy feels neglected by the parents.
On the other hand, the step sister who is at nineteen years has an addiction problem and attends the therapy sessions on and off.
Further, it is revealed that her mother who is the first wife but divorced from the father could get high with her or allow her to take substances hence restricted from seeing each other. As a result of this fact, the relationship between the Father and Mother is not good and leads to constant conflicts based on arguments of blaming each other for the addiction problem of the daughter. Currently, the father has the rights to the custody of the daughter and also supports her treatment plans. Additionally, he now has a second wife, and together they have the son of 6 years, which is the role I played. The stepmother to the teen daughter is also supportive of the process. The first wife who is a recovering addict with few weeks of sobriety also supports the treatment program. The relationship between all the members of this family towards their daughter and among themselves is good except for the conflict between the father and the first wife in regards to their daughter’s current state. Lastly, the attention accorded to the sister affects the emotions of the six-year-old boy who feels ignored at the expense of the half-sister's mistakes. The situation contributes significantly to the decision to avoid going to the therapy session in support of the sister though he approves of the need for recovery. In this regard, the next session has to involve how to deal with the feelings of the six-year-old, the conflicts between the father and first wife, as well as the supportive measure to help the daughter recover.
Family Stages
According to Carter and McGoldrick (1989), the family at the time of the session is between the third and fourth stage of development. The rationale is that the family has an adolescent and a young child of six years. Whereas the girl needs few boundaries by the parents to make her decisions, the boy is young and is a level of being socialized into the system. Further, the condition of the daughter requires further guidance not only by the parents but also by professional therapists. The fact that the second wife accepts the responsibility of taking care of the teenage girl and the relationship with other family members is good demystifies a scenario of two families. The reason is that in most cases, the stepmother plays the supporting role of the parent for both children while the father des the same. Besides, the teen daughter is not allowed to see the mother while undergoing the process due to the exposure and encouragement to get high when she was with her leading to custody rights being awarded to the father.
Each Family Member Stage by Erickson
Based on Erickson's development stages, the boy, which is the role I played, falls under the fourth one of the school age. The reason is that at this point, the child is starting to alienate himself from the parents care by emotions of being ignored. As a result, the boy does not feel the importance of attending a session which they do not understand. In this respect, there is an approach to competence in making decisions by self, regarding the socialization process. On the other hand, despite the girl being 19 years, she belongs to the adolescent stage since she is still struggling to find her identity. For example, she abuses drugs and is struggling with addiction by being an off the rehabilitation program. The girl still depends on the parents and family for guidance as she identifies her roles and develops a sense of moral values between correct actions and wrong judgments. For the case of the mother to the boy, who is also the second wife, she falls under the young adults since she has just started a young family and supports all the kids and the husband by showing love. The relationship with all the other family members is good. Besides, the gap between the boy and the half-sister is more than 13 years which indicates the second marriage could involve a younger adult. Lastly, both the father and the first wife are in middle-aged adult stage since both are realizing their mistakes especially in raising their daughter leading to the current situation. However, they do not agree on who to blame between themselves leading to constant conflicts. Also, both have a purpose for the daughter to get better as well as for the mother to stop substance abuse too. In this regard, the life revolves around the family and their relationships.
