Family harmony offers a sense of ownership, belonging, and security to people more than any other form of relationships. However, when a conflict in a family occurs, it threatens that form of idyll among the family members. The domestic disharmony can occur within a family unit or from external sources. Such conflicts can have a series of traumatizing effects on individuals that can only be addressed through the intervention of a professional family therapist. Nowadays, Structural Family Therapy (SFT) and Strategic Family Therapy are effective models that have been validated as effective systems to address the conflicts in a family unit.

Discussion of Family Factors The Simpson family consists of two parents and two teenage girls. The Simpsons live in Michigan, and both girls study in the same public high school within their local town. Rebecca, the eldest teenage, is a good performer in class and other co-curricular activities. She is also a regular church attendee and has many friends. Ultimately, she is considered to be the favorite daughter in the family. Ashley is two years younger than Rebecca. Mr. Simpson is calm, hardworking, and impatient individual. He has good relationships with all the other family members, except Ashley. Mrs. Simpson is calm and reserved. Nevertheless, she has problems with Ashley as well but does not experience any troubles with Mr. Simpsons and Rebecca. Lastly, Rebecca is jovial and aggressive, while Ashley is very social and outgoing, but she experience permanent conflicts with all her relatives.

Despite having the same family and social provisions as Rebecca, Ashley is a total contrast to her sister, both in academic performance and social associations. Ashley has very poor academic scores, and she avoids participating in other activities, such as sports, drama, and music. Moreover, on several occasions in the past, Ashley has been caught while sneaking out of her parents’ house at night to visit a boyfriend. Apart from that, she was recently given an academic warning for abusing alcohol in the school premises and assaulting a fellow classmate while being under influence.

Ashley’s behavior has caused a major conflict in her family since each of her relatives has been striving to help her with the problems in different ways. In light to this, the Simpsons have found the need to seek for the assistance of a professional family counselor in order to solve their family issues. However, after the first visit to the professional counselor, the family therapist confirmed that Ashley has problems with alcohol and rude language. Ashley acknowledged these facts, and she is ready to do everything to end this conflict and establish good relationships with her family members.

Using SFT to Solve the Simpsons’ Family Conflict The SFT is a psychotherapy strategy that was invented by Salvador Minuchin (Jones-Smith, 2014). Additionally, the technique is employed to address various conflicts within a family unit. During the therapy session, while using the SFT, the therapist strives to talk with every family member to comprehend the invisible rules that connect each of them. Apart from that, the SFT technique is effective, as it allows to determine different relationships that exist within the family unit and eventually disrupts the dysfunctional associations. Ultimately, the SFT could aid in the attainment of a stabilized patterns of interaction within the Simpson family.

Through the analysis of the Simpson family case using the SFT, the therapist understands that the connection that binds each family member to the other is their concern for each other. Apart from that, in this case, the Simpsons are all worried for the problematic behavior of Ashley, which relates to poor academic performance and alcohol indulgence. In this way, the therapist would try to mend the relationship between Ashley and the rest of her family members by attempting to address the issue of why she should not consume alcohol. In this case, the techniques include regular counseling sessions with the Simpson family and also privately talking with Ashley alone. Moreover, the therapist would enlighten Ashley on the importance of attaining good academic performance. It is worth to note that such sessions should be held regularly, each month, until Ashely changes her problematic behavior. Additional, there are several other techniques of SFT that could be used for the research. It includes studying the family’s structural patterns, understanding the family’s context, maintaining the interactions among the members, promoting communication flexibility, and understanding the family’s resonance points. Additionally, these methods of SFT are proposed by Minuchin, memo writer, in his study of effective methodologies of SFT to use for family conflict therapies (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2015).

Using Strategic Family Therapy to Solve the Simpsons’ Family Conflict Strategic Family Therapy is a different form of family conflict intervention that is centered on solving problems, achieving family goals, and changing family members’ dysfunctional as well as problematic behaviors (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2015). Additionally, while applying this technique, a therapist develops a distinct approach towards solving every problem outlined by the family members who are in a conflict. Moreover, a specialist strives to learn the root cause of the problem by evaluating the attempts made by people to address what they perceive to be wrong or problematic in their life.

In light of the Simpson family conflict, the therapist might use the Strategic Family Therapy to focus on attaining the family’s goals as a way of addressing their conflict. Additionally, from the case context, it is evident that the primary goal is to reform Ashley’s behavior towards alcohol consumption and also improve her academic performance. Thus, the therapist can learn about the two goals from analyzing the attempts that have been made by each member of the family to help Ashley with her issues.

In this case, the different methodologies used by the family members have created a basis for the major conflict in the family unit. Each person felt that their strategy is better, thus avoiding listening to other thoughts. Subsequently, when all the methods employed by the Simpsons have failed in solving Ashley’s problem, it resulted in frustration and inter-conflicts within the family members. Nevertheless, there are two specific Strategic Family Therapy techniques that can be used to remedy the situation.

To begin with, the therapist can help the Simpsons realize a common goal of addressing their problems. Additionally, it may help all the family members to have similar strategies focused on solving Ashley’s issues. The second specific strategy would be to change Ashley’s social environment. It can be achieved by removing all alcoholic beverages from the house as a way of discouraging her from drinking alcohol before going to school. Moreover, Ashley can go to a different school where she can start building her high school academic portfolio without the negative influence of her current peers.

The particular words that the therapist can use to address the problem should be arranged in the form of questions subjected towards the Simpsons. For instance, the therapist can ask the family members on the goals that this family unit wants to achieve after solving their daughter’s problem. The therapist can also ask about the common methods or support interventions that were used to overcome the existed situation. Ultimately, such particular words and phrases can help the clients to come up with a single strategy to address the issue, hence allowing to solve the conflict.

Conclusion In conclusion, today, the SFT and Strategic Family Therapy are techniques that have been validated as effective for addressing conflicts in a family unit. Additionally, the SFT entails the mapping of different relationships that exist within a family unit under conflict and eventually disrupting the dysfunctional associations among its members. The Strategic Family Therapy is a different form of family conflict intervention that is centered on solving problems, achieving family goals, and changing family members’ dysfunctional as well as problematic behaviors.