The Family Crucible Analysis (1600 words).

The Family Crucible Analysis. 

The Family Crucible provides society with a better understanding of family therapy. Augustus Napier and Carl Whitaker, the authors, did an excellent job illustrating different aspects of family therapy and the life of marriage. Reading the book was substantial to me and inspiring as the two therapists worked hard to improve the situation for the dysfunctional families. The therapeutic approach is one useful method that modern-day family therapists would commend. The book is exciting to read, and it is also well-composed, making it easy to read. Using techniques such as sweet-talking, listening, mocking, and supporting allowed the families to understand what role they should play in ensuring they bring their families together. Through that, the families could pinpoint some of the problems that they are facing and come up with solutions to solve the problem. The book made me feel family therapy should be practiced by many modern families. The benefit it would bring to society is reducing the number of divorce cases that have been rampant in this modern world. After reading the book, this article will consider some of the essential things that made me learn about family therapy. 

The first significant aspect of The Family Crucible is the role of families in solving challenges affecting the family. The therapist’s purpose is to help the family identify the problems and come up with solutions to solve the problem. The therapist will also be making observations on the progress and recommend some ways that can be used to mend broken relationships in the family. In his article about family therapy, Thandiwe supports the sentiments of Augustus Napier and Carl Whitaker that families should seek help to get assistance (Thandiwe, 2010). Through the conversation they will be having, the therapist can identify some of the major causes that lead to a dispute in the family. Thandiwe also claims that the therapy room can help the therapist explore how the issues stated by the family can influence the lives of the clients once they are out of therapy (Thandiwe, 2010). Taking the instance of Brice’s family, Carl asked Brice to bring the whole family for therapy. The family decided to leave Don at home, which showed they were trying to hide something. It was significant to me since I understood that every family member is vital in the healing process. Therapists are confidants, and the problem can be established quickly when all members are involved. Families also need to believe in the therapists and state their issues openly as that would help to determine the cause of challenges and the solutions that can be used. 

The second important aspect of The Family Crucible is how the family uses the focus on unnecessary things to avoid dealing with issues affecting the family. One area, according to Napier and Whitaker, is that it is common for a parent to focus on their children and avoid dealing with underlying issues that may affect the family’s relationship in the future. The authors state that some common patterns present in any unhappy family include blaming, scapegoating, polarization, diffusion of identity, and stress. Families will always face different challenges daily, but how they choose to handle the problems will matter. Looking at it from a real-world perspective, most parents stay together because of the children. That should not be the case as, at one point, they will be unable to contain the situation, resulting in divorce and fighting, among others. The family should identify the problems and seek help from a therapist who would help them solve the issue. In most cases, there are problems in the family, and the parents usually choose to hide the wrong issues. Blaming one party for the family’s challenges is wrong as it creates more problems than solutions. It was significant to me since I understood what families are going through and what can be done to help families solve the issues that they are facing. Relating to Brice’s family situation, I put my family in that perspective and could establish some of the challenges that we face at a time and how, in the future, they may affect all the members.  

The third important aspect of The Family Crucible is the role that therapists play in helping families. In the book, Napier and Whitaker, who are experienced therapists take the role of assisting the Brice family. It was an awakening experience reading that two therapists would work together to help the family. At first, I thought they would gang up against the family, but as I continued reading the book, I understood the importance. The two-therapist approach was enlightening as one of the therapists would approach the family case personally while the other would-be professional. That helped the family in the end as the causes of the problems were identified. In her article, Sara indicates that family therapy has a lot of benefits to the family and society in general. The field would continue to positively impact people’s lives if aspects such as the client feedback process were improved. She indicates that families are different as those seeking therapy would show improvement; some will drop out early while others will show no positive change (Sara, 2017). It was significant to me through reading the book; I understood the importance of family therapy in the lives of families facing difficulties. Also, strengthening the alliance between the family and the therapist would help to ensure the challenge will be solved efficiently. 

The fourth important aspect of The Family Crucible is the element of trust and openness between the therapists and the families. Families go to therapists to seek help due to the challenges they encounter. As Napier and Whitaker indicate, the family structure is a huge determinant in the guidance process. For Brice’s family, it took some time for the therapists to win the family’s trust for them to be open about some of the challenges that have been affecting the family. “If the family therapist is to acquire that initial “authority figure” or “parent” role that is so necessary if therapy is to be more powerful than an ordinary social experience, he has to earn it.” (Napier and Whitaker, 2017). It takes place in most family therapies, which can be a barrier for both the family and the therapist. When the family defers some of the issues, it will take a long time for them to get help, and more problems may arise during that process. It will be a challenge for the therapists since they will not be able to establish the issue and the right solution to give the family to solve the problem. It was significant to me since I understood that the therapists should use some techniques to earn the trust of the family members. The families also need to be open and ensure they express their challenges openly to give the therapists an easy time during the therapy process. 

The fifth important aspect of The Family Crucible is a family is a unit, and the roles of taking care of the children should be done collectively. Using the case of Brice’s family, some reflections are that marriages at the start are easy for all the parties and the needs are usually a few. When the demands become complicated and people cannot meet their partners’ needs, then elements such as trust, happiness, and understanding start to disappear. Worry and sadness will be evident, and to cover up for the situation, most people will substitute their interests with things such as drinking, working excessively, focusing more on children, or engaging in an affair. The lives of the other member of the family will be affected by that, which will bring more challenges. In his article, Eric supports some of the techniques used by Napier and Whitaker in the book. Some critical things include externalizing the family problem, understanding the family system, and recognizing cultural discourse (Eric et al., 2017). When families face challenges, they should seek the services of a therapist and be a unit through the whole process. It applies to any process in therapy as when there is no cooperation, the problem will not be solved, and the family will continue to suffer. 

The book is relevant to people who want to consider marriage and those who wish to pursue a course in the field of Psychology. Being part of any family, we face different challenges, and the book gives us some good ways that we can use to help solve the problems. If it reaches a point where the family members are unable to solve the issues internally, going for family therapy can be useful. Using the Brice family in the book was good as one could relate to what takes place in their families and easily identify a problem. Though The Family Crucible was written about thirty years ago, the lessons are timeless, and most of the things can be applied in family therapy today. In the book, I loved how the writers could freely express themselves while keeping the book educational, exciting, and applicable to families in the modern-day world. The field of family therapy will continue to be relevant to all of us as we belong to families and encounter challenges every day. The book has indicated the benefits the family can get by seeking family therapy, which is essential as it will determine the family’s interaction in the future. The Family Crucible by Augustus Napier and Carl Whitaker was educative and exciting to me, and it made me understand the family system and family therapy better.