Hernandez Family Assessment

Assessment is as essential to family therapy as it is to individual therapy. Although families often present with one person identified as the “problem,” the assessment process will help you better understand family roles and determine whether the identified problem client is in fact the root of the family’s issues. As you examine the Hernandez Family: Sessions 1-6 videos in the Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat the client family.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Assess client families presenting for psychotherapy

To prepare:

• Review the Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide on family assessment.
• View the Hernandez Family: Sessions 1-6 videos, and consider how you might assess the family in the case study.

Note: For guidance on writing a comprehensive client assessment, refer to pages 137–142 of Wheeler (2014) in this week’s Learning Resources.

ACTUAL ASSIGNMENT

PLEASE Addressed each of the bullets with a subtopic, use the resources, you can use other references within last five years only- from 2014 to 2018. Please do not begin a paragraph with author name(s) (PLEASE USE parenthetical/in-text citations)

Address in a comprehensive client assessment of the Hernandez family the following: use evidence-based literature/refereces

1. Demographic information
2. Presenting problem
3. History or present illness
4. Past psychiatric history
5. Medical history
6. Substance use history
7. Developmental history
8. Family psychiatric history
9. Psychosocial history
10. History of abuse and/or trauma
11. Review of systems
12. Physical assessment
13. Mental status exam
14. Differential diagnosis
15. Case formulation
16. Treatment plan

Resources/References

Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice. New York, NY: Springer.

• Chapter 12, “Family Therapy” (pp. 429–468)

Nichols, M. (2014). The essentials of family therapy (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

• Chapter 3, “Basic Techniques of Family Therapy” (pp. 29–48)
• Chapter 4, “The Fundamental Concepts of Family Therapy” (pp. 49–68)

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

L’Abate, L. (2015). Highlights from 60 years of practice, research, and teaching in family therapy. American Journal of Family Therapy, 43(2), 180–196. doi:10.1080/01926187.2014.1002367

Mojta, C., Falconier, M. K., & Huebner, A. J. (2014). Fostering self-awareness in novice therapists using internal family systems therapy. American Journal of Family Therapy, 42(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/01926187.2013.772870

Nichols, M., & Tafuri, S. (2013). Techniques of structural family assessment: A qualitative analysis of how experts promote a systemic perspective. Family Process, 52(2), 207–215. doi:10.1111/famp.12025

Papero, D. V. (2014). Assisting the two-person system: An approach based on the Bowen theory. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 35(4), 386–397. doi:10.1002/anzf.1079

REQUIRED VIDEOS

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013a). Hernandez family> Sessions 1—6 [Video file]. Author: Baltimore, MD.