The wellness of families : the exploration into developing an integrated family counselling workbook

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration into the integration of a pastoral, narrative and family therapy approach with the purpose of developing an integrated family workbook that ministers, pastors, counsellors and families can use as a pro-active guide in counselling. It is a qualitative exploratory study using in-depth literature studies as well as in-depth interviews and research into existing family counselling models. Participants to the study were social workers, ministers, pastors, counsellors and psychologist. The in-depth-literature study focused primarily on the theory and practice of a pastoral, narrative and family approach and secondly on the history of psychology and theology integration.Both the literature study, research into existing family therapy models and in-depth interviews confirm to the research questions: Is it possible to integrate a pastoral, narrative and family therapy approach? Is there a need for an integrated family therapy workbook?-in that - families do not only struggle to cope on a socio-economic level (lack of income and housing for example) but the lack of morals and values and “get together” also plays a vital role. In the voice of participants: “Families need to discover their own family belief and faith system and hear the voices of one another, they need to be understood in terms of their religion, culture, tradition, history and life story”.Many counsellors use one preferred approach in counselling. Harm can come to clients in counselling who are expected to fit all the specifications of a given theory. Practitioners need to challenge and tailor their theory and practice to fit the unique needs of clients/families. This requirement calls for counsellors to possess knowledge of various cultures, be aware of their own cultural heritage, and have skills to assist a wide spectrum of clients in dealing with reality. Each theory has its unique contributions and its own domain of expertise. By accepting that each theory has strengths and weaknesses and is, by definition, “different” from the others, practitioners have some basis to begin developing a theory that fits for them.