Introduction
Family members of patients with bipolar disorder often suffer from the illness and experience a range of deep emotions themselves, such as a sense of helplessness in treating bipolar symptoms. Family-oriented therapy can be a powerful tool for strengthening stability within the family and prolonging the period of peace between episodes of illness. The main goal of the family therapy is to teach family members to build an adequate communication.
The family-oriented therapy is a hybrid of two forms of psychotherapy. It is both a form of psychoeducation and family therapy. Psychoeducation primarily aims to inform patients and their families about their illnesses (Galimidi & Shamai, 2022). Bowen’s family systems theory views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions of this unit (Kerr, 2019). Family-centered therapy begins with a deep understanding of how the patient’s family system and the complex web of relationships can either maintain or exacerbate the patient’s condition.
The Role of Family Theory in Response to a Person with Bipolar Disorder
Patients with bipolar disorder may have suicidal thoughts and act impulsively, causing distress to their family members. According to Bowen’s theory, human difficulties go beyond unresolved problems in the human psyche and are built into the family system of each person (Kerr, 2019). It means that our personal and relationship issues arise from an exaggerated reaction to a sense of threat to family harmony.
Family systems theory can affect the patient and his family members (Kerr, 2019). For example, parents of a teenage daughter with bipolar disorder may be distraught by their child’s illness and, as a result, motivated to act overly controllingly. The family-centered therapist can focus on the parents to help them deal with their stress more independently of their daughter than they could previously handle.
Psychological Plan for the Family
Treatment for patients with bipolar disorder includes medication and psychotherapy. According to research by Miklowitz et al. (2020), mood disorder episodes may be delayed and have long-term consequences for adolescents and parents who have received family-oriented therapy. Such therapy takes 8-20 sessions and begins with constructing a family diagram. It is a graphic representation of the functioning of several generations of a family to recognize the reactivity patterns that govern the lives of family members and to observe how the family adapts to life circumstances (Kerr, 2019). The diagram can be supplemented during the entire period of therapy.
The next step uses the concept of emotional triangles to symbolize enduring relationship networks. In Bowen family therapy, families work to create a healthy balance and support in these emotional triangles (Kerr, 2019). A critical approach is using I-statements when the speaker does not blame another family member but talks about his feelings, which are associated with other people’s actions (Kerr, 2019). The therapy includes behavioral family management, including psychoeducation sessions, communication skills training, and problem-solving skills training.
Conclusion
Thus, therapy for patients with bipolar disorder and their families will focus on identifying patterns in the family that trigger the onset of the disease. Knowing these patterns will allow you to adjust the behavior of all family members for long periods of remission. In addition, understanding the symptoms of bipolar disorder will help patients and their families recognize upcoming episodes and prevent them.
References
Galimidi, N., & Shamai, M. (2022). Interactions between mental illness recovery processes in the family. Family Relations, 71(1), 408-425. Web.
Kerr, M. (2019). Bowen theory’s secrets: Revealing the hidden life of families. WW Norton & Company.
Miklowitz, D. J., Schneck, C. D., Walshaw, P. D., Singh, M. K., Sullivan, A. E., Suddath, R. L., & Chang, K. D. (2020). Effects of family-focused therapy vs enhanced usual care for symptomatic youths at high risk for bipolar disorder: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA psychiatry, 77(5), 455-463. Web.
