For the purpose of this assignment, an interview on a Japanese family living the United States was conducted. The interview was arranged through a phone call, followed by an introductory visit. The nuclear family is made up of four members: Judith, Odani, Nick and Jenee. Judith’s parents also live in the same household. Judith’s parents migrated to the United States in the late 1990s when Judith was a teenager. She met Odani in Miami, where both attended college. Two years later, they married and started a family. Together, they have a ten year-old son, Nick and eight year-old daughter, Jenee.
Given that counselors are bound by rules of ethics, the first step involved obtaining informed consent from the family. The informed form provided pertinent information about the interview and the right to withdraw from the activity. The process began by meeting and knowing the members of the family. They were also informed that the purpose of the interview was solely for class assignment and the information would not be used for any other purpose. After the consent was obtained, the interview began in the presence of all family members.
According to Judith, she had always expected to take care of her aging parents. In 2012, her parents moved into their family home in Miami. To accommodate her parents, the couple remodeled the house to be senior friendly. They also added a partial kitchen and a studio apartment. The parents help in taking care of the children when the parents are working. However, the parents’ roles are expected to change as they get older as they will require care from the adults. Living with them will make it much easier.
The family has a vertical family structure characterized by hierarchal relationships and patriarchal lineage. Responsibility moves from father to son and husband to wife. The role of the father is to provide for the family. The son carry’s the family’s name. The female members of the family carry-out routine household chores and look after the well-being of the family. A mother forms a close bond with the children. On the other hand, Children are taught to respect elders at a young age. Respect to parents is viewed as sacred. The family emphasizes the importance of honor and loyalty to the family. Hence, family problems are solved within the family rather than sharing them with outside parties.
Interview process
The interview followed a four stage process: Forming a Relationship, Investigation, Interpretation and Re-orientation and Re-education. The first stage involved forming a relationship with the members of the family. The stage began by sharing appreciation for the opportunity to conduct an interview with the family. Positive comments were also given to appreciate the hospitality given by the family members. The caring interest session was then followed by the obtaining of consent session.
The participants were also informed about the reason for recording and how it would be used. A consent form was used for this process. All the adults in the family signed the consent form prior to beginning the interview. The end of the first stage was marked by family giving their story. The participants explained their life tasks. Judith works for a healthcare organization that focuses on minority communities’ health and well being. Odani is a practitioner in the real estate sector. Both children are ore of school going age. According to the information gathered, both parents leas a busy life. However, Judith’s schedule is more flexible than Odani’s. Judith’s parents make it easier by taking care of the children.
Judith and Odani belong to a number of social groups. Religion is a central part of the family’s cultural practice. The family practices Buddhism. One of the values rooted in the religion underlies the practice of counseling. According to Buddhism, removing the cause of suffering is one way of overcoming suffering. Self-improvement is also central value in the religious practices. Individuals are expected to strike a balance between self-indulgence and self-mortification.
The second stage was lifestyle assessment. The stage began with the participants narrating their life experience since childhood particularly those within their family constellation, values of their culture of origin, their position in the family and other operative influences of the family structure. The third stage was hypothesis interpretation. The stage involved interpreting the behavior to the participants. However, different perspectives of the behavior were assessed, with the purpose of conveying to the participants that more than one explanation for behavior existed. The re-orientation and re-education was the last stage of the interview. Encouragement was used to help the family frame success. In the end, participants were able to make connections between beliefs and feelings.
Use of Adlerian technique
The Adlerian technique was used predominantly in the interview. The major components adopted include Problem description and goal identification, Investigation of typical day Identification and unlocking mistaken goals that motivate parent-child interactions as well as re-orienting and re-educating the family through the use of encouragement
