CASE ILLUSTRATION
The Chens Wen and Mei Chen are upset because their only son, Park, decided to go against their wishes and major in biology instead of business. He wants to be a horticulturist when he finishes his studies. His parents wanted him to earn an MBA and follow in the footsteps of his father, a CEO and manager of a hotel chain. If not that, they hoped Park would become a physician. However, Park is somewhat reserved and wants nothing to do with the two professions his parents wish him to pursue. Furthermore, he states he is an American and “free” from any cultural obligation to follow his parents’ mandates. The parents are furious, especially Mr. Chen. They want you to “talk some sense” into Park since he is only a sophomore in college and still has time to change his major. You feel trapped in wanting to advocate both for the parents and their cultural heritage and for Park and his cultural milieu. What could you say to the Chens as a family? How could you approach their situation from a systemic point of view? What could you do therapeutically with them without putting them in therapy per se?
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Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
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Week 3 Application Assignment: Diversity and Family Counseling
Overview
What is normal? While the concept is a difficult one to apply uniformly across various
structures of marriage, couples, and families; there are developmental models that we
can use as reference points for our work. Because it is unlikely that you will work with
only one type of marriage, couple, or family structure, it is important to become familiar
with a variety of developmental models. As you might guess from your own life
experience, each stage of development poses new opportunities and challenges. Think
about the various stages of the family life cycle that your own family has experienced.
Would having a developmental understanding of behaviors and emotions that emerged
at each stage have helped you to navigate change more effectively?
In this assignment, you will compare stages of family and couple development for samesex couples and other diversity groups. You will describe the opportunities and
challenges that may be present at various points in these models. You should also
review all supplemental materials, and use the rubrics as guides to help you complete
the assignment. This assignment will count toward your final grade and is due by Day 4,
and is worth 75 points.
Directions
Review this week’s Learning Resources and think about the different qualities of healthy
and dysfunctional families. Also think about the various issues that culturally diverse
families face. Select a case example from Chapter 5 of your text. Consider the
interventions that might be applied in the case selected. Consider the resources and
challenges you might encounter working with this case study.
• Discuss the family life cycle for the case selected and what other information you
might need to gather to understand the family life cycle stage for the case study.
• Explain at least two strategies for working with the case study you selected.
• Support your selected intervention strategies with at least one citation from a
professional journal in the Lamar University Library. The resource should provide
evidence of the efficacy of the intervention.
• Reflect on your own cultural background and what strategies might work with
your family.
Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
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Rubric
Module One Application Assignment
This assignment is worth 75 points.
Category Points
15-14 13-12 11-10 9-0
Accuracy of
responses
Question 1
15 points
Questions
are
accurately
and
thoroughly
answered
Questions are
partially
accurate but
most to all are
answered
Answers are
more
inaccurate
than accurate
OR many are
unanswered
Answers are
completely
inaccurate or
missing.
15-14 13-12 11-10 9-0
Accuracy of
responses
Question 2
15 points
Questions
are
accurately
and
thoroughly
answered
Questions are
partially
accurate but
most to all are
answered
Answers are
more
inaccurate
than accurate
OR many are
unanswered
Answers are
completely
inaccurate or
missing.
10-9 8-8 7-7 6-0
Supported
Responses
with a
citation
from a
professional
journal
article
10 points
Questions
are
accurately
and
thoroughly
answered
Questions are
partially
accurate but
most to all are
answered
Answers are
more
inaccurate
than accurate
OR many are
unanswered
Answers are
completely
inaccurate or
missing.
25-23 22-20 19-18 17-0
Reflection
25 points
Shows
strong
evidence of
reasoned
reflection
and depth.
Shows
evidence of
reasoned
reflection.
Minimal
reasoned
reflection
Lacks reflection
and depth.
10-9 8 7 6-0
Mechanics
10 points
No
grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors
Almost no
grammatical,
spelling, or
punctuation
errors
Many
grammatical,
spelling, or
punctuation
errors
Numerous
grammatical and
punctuation errors
Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
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