RUNNING HEAD: Role Play Group Presentation

Role Play Group Presentation and Structural Map: The Solis Family Stephanie Graupmann and Dina Soriano Portland State University

Role Play Group Presentation Description for Role Play: The Solis Family Brian (Father, 42) Brian is a self-employed owner of a paper company. He works long hours and travels often. He is proud of his accomplishments as he grew up in a poor Cuban family and is one of the first in his family to achieve financial success. He was raised in Maryland where he met his wife, Stephanie, at a gym where he exercised. He married her at 24 and they moved to Portland for his business. Brian has a sister, niece and nephew whom he helps to care for financially. He enjoys taking his family on trips. They have been to Cuba, Mexico, and Las Vegas to name a few. When he allows himself to relax, he enjoys watching movies and golfing. He also loves NASCAR and took his family to a race in Florida this year.

He struggles to share his feelings with his family and prefers to show that he cares in materialistic ways. He is easily angered and tends to explode at Dino. He yells at him frequently to try to get him to do school work or help around the house. Brians father also struggled to share feelings and was short-tempered. When Dino was in elementary school, DHS was involved and Brian had to attend anger management classes. Brian did stop drinking after the DHS incident and has been sober for 10 years. Brian thinks Dino is lazy and denies the fact that his son has a disability. He thinks Dino just needs to grow up. Stephanie (Mom, 42) Stephanie called to make the appointment. Stephanie is a stay-at-home mom of Dino and Eva. Eva is 20 and away at college. Stephanie spends a great deal of her time caring for her mother who has been diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder and has early signs

Role Play Group Presentation of dementia. She has been caring for her mother throughout her life. She feels like a

single mom when Brian is away. Dino can be very demanding and defiant when Brian is out of town and often Stephanie gives into him. Dino can be very cruel to her. One time Dino locked her out of the bathroom when she was having stomach pains and taunted her. She is worried about Dino as she is not sure he will be able to graduate and believes he will struggle to live on his own. Stephanie doesnt spend much time away from her home or family. In fact, she puts her family before her own self care and often plays a martyr role. She likes to garden. She has a couple of girlfriends with whom she goes to lunch with infrequently. Dino takes a great deal of her time whether dealing with his struggles in school, doctors appointments, psychiatrist appointment etc. She drinks a glass of wine nightly. She also shops frequently. Dino (Son, 17; IP) Dino is a 17 year old senior in high school. He recently transferred to a new high school for his senior year because his family moved. He is struggling academically and has gotten into arguments with teachers. He was suspended last year for hitting a kid on the bus home for calling him names. Dino was diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder when he was 11 years and is currently taking medication to help deal with his symptoms. He sees a psychiatrist monthly. He qualifies for Special Education Services under Emotional Disturbance. At his old school, he was in a self-contained classroom. While he was mainstreamed for all but one class, he had a lot of support. At his new school, he doesnt get along with his new case manager, whom he says is very controlling. He is failing 3 of 6 classes and is in danger of not graduating. He doesnt have many friends at school,

Role Play Group Presentation but this has always been a struggle for Dino. Dino loves video games, playing chess and history. He also likes to read. Many things worry Dino. He is afraid of flying. Dino also has grandiose thoughts and fears about death. Dino loves spending time watching movies with his Dad when he is home. He hates when his dad yells at him as he wants and needs his approval so much. Dino uses his diagnosis to avoid situations, responsibilities and work. For example, he

complains that his medication makes his hand shake, but in actuality he uses this to avoid writing assignments. He also writes even more illegibly when he doesnt know an answer hoping the teacher will just give him credit. Dino is very concrete in his thinking and struggles to deal with the many gray areas in life. He believes that world should change for him.

Role Play Group Presentation and Structural Map Outline of Solis Family 1. Practically a. Love The Solis family struggles to express their feelings. Brian shows his love to his family in materialistic ways. Dino does not feel loved or valued by his father. Stephanie does help Dino to feel loved and valued through her words and actions. b. Limits There are glaring inconsistencies in the way the way Stephanie and Brian parent Dino. Since Brian is out of town frequently he exhibits a drive-by parenting style as he yells at Dino to try to get him to do what he wants. Stephanie gives into Dinos

Role Play Group Presentation demands and does not set clear limits with him. Stephanie will often go behind

Brians back when he sets a limit for Dino. For example, Brian will not let Dino play video games when he is not passing his classes, but when he is out of town, Stephanie allows Dino to play. Dino does not respect his mother, and feels disrespected by his father. The family does have rituals around meals, bedtimes, holidays and vacations. c. Guidance Brian does try to provide Dino with life lessons. He has brought Dino on several of his business trips. Dino and Brian have had intense verbal conflicts on these trips. Dino experiences a great deal of anxiety in new situations and Brian thinks Dino is acting like a baby and tells him to man-up. As a result of Brian being away from home mentoring and life lessons are inconsistent. 2. Structurally a. Boundaries around the Solis family can be rigid at times. While Dino has attended individual therapy with a psychiatrist, they have been reluctant to attend family therapy as Brian feels they dont need outside help for their family. He thinks Dino just needs to take responsibility for himself which would will fix all issues within the family. Stephanie attends all of Dinos IEP meetings and purposefully excludes Brian from those meetings as he often escalates Dino by berating him. Socially, the family keeps to themselves and dont have many family friends. b. In terms of dyadic relationships or subsystems, Dino is in conflict with both of his parents. There are rigid boundaries with his father and diffused or enmeshed boundaries with his mother. Brian and Stephanie are disengaged with one another as they lack intimacy and connectedness, particularly in regards to their parenting styles.

Role Play Group Presentation Dino does have a good relationship with his older sister, but she is away at school. Eva avoids conflict with both of her parents as she seeks to please through her overachievement in school. c. Hierarchically, Dino has more power than his mother in terms of his ability to influence the outcome of transactions. Brian is above Dino and Stephanie because

when he is home dictates the outcomes of transactions. Eva would also be equal with her mother and below her father. Stephanie often talks to Eva like a friend in order to vent her frustrations. As a result there may be some enmeshment or overinvolvement in their relationship. Lastly, the Solis family is resistant to change. This is especially true for Dino as he is really struggling to adapt to his new school and the transition into young adulthood. 3. Inter-generationally a. There are low levels of differentiation among members of the Solis family. The family projection process is at work. Brian did not feel loved or valued by his father, so it is difficult for him to show his love for Dino. Brian is cut-off emotionally from his family. He has high levels of emotional reactivity just as his father did. b. Dino is enmeshed with his mother and disengaged with his father. As a result, he has very low levels of differentiation. This is evident in his inability to manage his anxiety. Dino can also be emotionally reactive to his parents, teachers and few friends. c. Stephanies fused boundaries with her son exhibit low levels of differentiation for her as well. She has very few interests outside of her family. She also caters to her son. She has been a caretaker all of her life and had an imbalanced relationship with

Role Play Group Presentation her mother as Stephanie cared for her instead of vice versa, due to her mothers lifelong struggle with Bipolar I. This may be influencing her relationship with Dino as she never experienced a strong executive parental subsystem in her family of

origin. Thus, she does not know how to provide good limits for Dino. All she knows how to do is control through caretaking and enabling him. d. In terms of Personal Authority in the Family System, the unbalanced hierarchical boundaries have carried through multiple generations. There has been a pattern of intergenerational intimidation as Brians father verbally berated him just he does to Dino, and now Dino is doing to others. Dino does not have personal authority in the family system so he struggles to demonstrate self-efficacy in his life. Improving levels of differentiation among all members of the Solis family would be vital for them to grow and become more flexible to change. 4. Culturally a. While Brian is Cuban his family has been living in the United States for three generations. There is a high level of acculturation. In terms of gender roles, Brian was taught that a man makes the decisions in the family. He also received messages that asking or needing help implies weakness. Brians beliefs about what a man should be greatly influence his interactions with Dino. 5. Developmentally a. Currently, the family system is struggling to respond to the developmental needs of Dino as he is transitioning into young adulthood. His low differentiation levels and emotional reactivity are making these developmental changes difficult for him. He has struggled to develop healthy peer relationships. For 17 years old, Dino overly

Role Play Group Presentation depends on his mother to care for him, including almost daily delivery of lunch to school. He is not attempting to be independent from his family that is a vital emotional process for teens during this developmental phase. 6. Topically a. There are several specific issues at work in the Solis family. Brian exhibits high levels of anger and emotional reactivity towards Dino. While this is an intergenerational pattern, Brian could benefit from further anger management strategies and mindfulness. b. Dino has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and he has a documented educational disability, and yet Brian seems to in denial regarding this fact. Dino uses his diagnosis to avoid responsibility in areas of his life like school. c. Stephanie displays some addictive behaviors around drinking and shopping.

d. Each member of the Solis family has specific issues that impact the overall family functioning. Looking at some of these behaviors and symptoms through the practical, structural, developmental and intergenerational lens would be useful for treatment. 7. Process a. Many of the interactional sequences in the Solis family that are bringing them to counseling involve conflict along with Dinos school struggles. Enacting these conflicts in session or discussing the interactional sequences explicitly would be useful for the therapist to explore the underlying emotions and patterns driving these sequences. b. Counter transference: Dina Soriano In terms of counter-transference, my background in special education may create

Role Play Group Presentation a bias in my work with Dino. I could envision myself wanting to help or save him rather than helping to become more flexible and adaptable to change especially as he is transitioning through a developmental stage. I also dont handle conflict very effectively in my own life, so I could see myself being easily triggered by conflict in session especially if Brian shows anger towards Dino in session. Conflict makes me feel chaotic and unregulated. I have tendency to avoid it rather than work through conflict. Avoiding conflict in session would not be helpful for the Solis family, so I need to be aware of moments of counter-transference as their therapist. c. Counter-transference: Stephanie Graupmann

Counter-transference issues would be similar in my situation as a therapist. I, too, struggle to deal well with intense conflict in the room, and tend to become uncomfortable. I would need to focus in on the interactional sequences and avoid judgemental statements. I am also aware that I tend to see conflicts in black and white, and tend to have bias toward the member(s) I see as the victim. Therefore, I would hold myself accountable to a supervisor regarding this tendency and implement the use of questions and motivational interviewing to keep focus on the clients. In addition, I do not have a great deal of experience in working with anger management or substance abuse issues in adults, so I would need to seek consultation from a peer more informed about interventions for both topics.