FAMILY COUNSELING APPROACH RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS OVERVIEW You a

FAMILY COUNSELING APPROACH RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
You are required to write a research paper/formal literature review in current APA format on one
specific approach to family counseling. This paper will require a cover page, abstract, 10 pages
in the body of the paper, and reference page(s). This paper will be divided into three parts
described below.
INSTRUCTIONS
Part I:
You are required to write a research paper/formal literature review in current APA format on one
of the following specific approaches to family counseling (NOT a technique):
 Psychodynamic/psychoanalytic models
 Bowen’s Family Systems Therapy model
 Whitaker’s Symbolic-Experiential Family Therapy model
 Kemplers’s Gestalt Family Therapy model
 Satir’s Human Validation Process model
 Johnson and Greenberg’s Emotionally Focused Therapy model
 Minuchin’s Structural Family Therapy model
 Haley and Madanes’ Strategic Family Therapy model
 Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy models
 Solution-Focused Therapy and Collaborative Therapy models
 Narrative Therapy models
After you provide an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement, you should include the
following major topics in your paper and indicate them in APA Level 1 heading format:
 Leading Figures
 Development of the Theory/Historical Events
 Basic Assumptions and Key Philosophy
 Key Concepts
 Techniques
 Similarities and Dissimilarities (here you need to identify two similarities AND two
dissimilarities between the chosen theory and other leading theories)
 New Knowledge Acquired (here you need to identify two pieces of information that you
have gained from completing this assignment)
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You must have scholarly references, including books and articles from peer-reviewed journals
that are written to or for scholars. You may use some non-scholarly materials; however, these
may not be the bulk of your references.
Do not use the Goldenberg, Stanton, and Goldenberg (2017) textbook as your primary reference.
You must use a minimum of 12 sources cited in current APA format in both the body of your
paper and your reference page. Part I of your paper requires a minimum of 6 pages (your
introduction paragraph is part of this page count).
Part II:
A personal integration section is required. This section of your paper will be your attempt to
integrate your personal faith and family counseling approach. You may use whatever resources
are necessary to complete this portion of the paper, including materials from the Ripley and
Worthington (2014) textbook and journal articles. Feel free to use additional books about
integration or any materials you have found beneficial on integrating your faith and counseling.
The supplemental textbooks listed in your Course Syllabus may help you in writing this paper. If
your view is something other than Christian, discuss how your view might interact with your
counseling approach. The use of first person is allowed in this section. You will determine the
key APA headings in this section as it relates to your chosen theory and personal faith
integration. This portion of the paper must be a minimum of 2 pages.
Part III:
Each student will complete the online SYMBIS Assessment at SYMBIS.com. Upon completion
of the SYMBIS facilitator training during Week 6, you will be given access to your own
Dashboard that includes a complimentary credit to complete the assessment for free. It will take
you about 30 minutes to answer the items and you will then be provided with a personalized 15-
page report about yourself within the context of a potential/current relationship through the
“phantom partner” (computer generated) option. If you are married or engaged, you and your
spouse/fiancé/fiancée may choose to take the assessment as a couple, but this is not required, or
you may choose the “phantom partner” option.
SPECIAL NOTE: If you are using the “phantom partner” option, please following these
instructions: When you invite yourself to take the assessment, enter your information as usual.
For your partner, enter any first and last name and use phantom@SYMBIS.com as the email
address. As soon as you complete the invitation, the phantom partner is created and ready to go.
If you continues to have issues, have reach out to the support team: help@SYMBIS.com
You will answer the following questions of the SYMBIS Report:
1. Marriage Mindset: Do you agree with how the assessment depicts your “Marriage
Mindset” on page 3? Why or why not?
2. Five Issues in Real Relationships: Pages 10 to 14 of your SYMBIS Report look at five
important issues in a marriage relationship: love, attitude, communication, gender
differences, and conflict – all through the lens of your specific personality. What is your
greatest insight from EACH of these five issues?
COUC 601
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3. Walking Together with God: Page 15 is dedicated to walking together with God as a
couple. Based on this information, what do you plan (identity 3 things) to do to ensure
that your current/eventual marriage is God-honoring?
4. Theory and Spiritual Integration: How do you see the SYMBIS Assessment as an
effective tool considering your chose family systems theoretical approach/model AND
your spiritual/faith integration?
The use of first person is also allowed in this section. This portion of the paper must be a
minimum of 2 pages.
At the end of your paper, you should also include a conclusion paragraph that summarizes the
three parts you just presented (this can be included in the Part III page count). The body of your
paper (Introduction; Parts I, II, and III; and Conclusion) will be a minimum of 10 pages. This
paper should also succinctly cover the required information being asked, and as such, the body of
your paper (Introduction; Parts I, II, and III; and Conclusion) should NOT exceed 12 pages. The
cover page, abstract, and reference page(s) do not count toward this page count. If the body of
your paper (Introduction; Parts I, II, and III; and Conclusion) exceeds the page restriction going
over 12 pages, it will be returned to you and you will be asked to trim the body of your paper to
10-12 pages and an automatic 5% deduction will be applied.
Additional Tips:
This research paper will count for approximately 15% of your final grade. Pay attention to the
following as your paper will be graded on:
1. Clarity of writing and good writing style,
2. Content,
3. The flow of the paper,
4. Current APA style (ex: cover page, abstract page, correct font and font size, body of the
paper, reference page(s), and double-spacing), and
5. Appropriate scholarly/peer-reviewed and optional non-scholarly references.
NOTE: Thousands of articles and books are available online through the Jerry Falwell Library’s
website and may be accessed immediately. If you request photocopying of documents and
shipment of library books from the Jerry Falwell Library, allow 3–5 days.
REMINDER: The Goldenberg et al. (2017) textbook may be used as a guide, but do not make
the textbook your paper.