CASE STUDY:
You are working in an agency. A family of four comes to see you about increased conflict in the family and the father’s withdrawal from the family. Enrique, the father, is 45 years old. He works as an airline baggage handler and has learned that he may be laid off in the near future. This brings back negative memories for him of a previous layoff 10 years earlier, three years after moving to the United States from Guatemala. This time, even though the monetary issues are less significant, the anticipated layoff makes Enrique feel that he has failed his family by not having a more secure income. For the past three months, he has shown increasing anger towards his wife, Sophia, and periods of withdrawal. Sophia tries to reassure him that her income will support them until he gets another job. They have two adolescent boys: Hernandez, 13 (born in the United States), and Carlos, 16. Hernandez is well-rounded and does well in school. Carlos struggles with schoolwork, attendance, and anger. The conflicts between the boys and among the boys and Sophia have increased, as have Enrique’s angry outbursts toward Sophia. However, Sophia is most concerned about Enrique’s growing depression.
Assume you are the therapist working with this case. In your initial post, provide questions you would ask the family and your reasoning behind asking the questions. Focus on open-ended, relational, or circular questions that are informed either by SFBT or by narrative theories. Focus on asking questions to explore the context of the client family problem.
