The McCoy Family Identifying Information
The McCoy family consists of Ed McCoy aged thirty-six and his 3 school-aged children. The names and ages of the children are Tamara-10, Kayla-8, and Kyle-4. Ed was married to the mother of the children, Tina until her untimely death caused by a connective tissue disorder three months ago.
Family Structure and Development
The McCoy family structure is that consisting of mostly extended family members. Prior to the death of Tina, the McCoy family would be considered a joint family as it consisted of children, parents, and grandparents both maternal and paternal. Tina was close to her immediate family however; Ed and his immediate family are not close. The lack of closeness involves distance and emotion. After the death of Tina, the relationship between Ed and his in-law is strained.
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Initial Presentation
Ed is a thirty-six-year-old widow with a slender build. Their initial appearance of Ed is that of being unkempt. Ed is linear in thought, however, flat in effect and is easily distracted. Tamara, aged ten is the oldest of the McCoy children. Tamara has long brown hair, is well-behaved, and is quiet. Kayla age eight is the second oldest of the McCoy children. Kayla is tall and slender with short dark hair. During the initial interview, Kayla maintained pleasant facial expressions. Kyle, the youngest at age four and the only boy in the McCoy family appears to be happy and content with his family situation.
Family Functioning
Since the death of his wife, Ed has all but allowed Tamara to fill in as the surrogate mother to the children in the home. This was evident by Ed mentioning how Tamara was a “good little mother”. The children appear to have met age benchmarks. Ed reports being emotionally distant from his children placing added responsibility and burden on Tamara. The distance shown by Ed could be the cause for the defiance shown by Kayla and why Kyle looks to his sibling sisters for his emotional support.
Intervention History
There has been no history of intervention involving the McCoy family.
Current Family Strengths, Problems, and Conflicts
The McCoy family benefits from a large and strong support system. The support system ranges from educators in the children’s schools, friends, and Tina’s mother and sister. Unfortunately, the dynamics in the family prior to Tina’s death did not allow for putting the supports in place. As a strength, Ed is an excellent provider to his children. Ed’s wanting to provide for his family is also a problem as it means that he cannot always be available to his children, leaving them to be nurtured by other people. Ed and Tina did not share roles and as a result, Ed is left with a responsibility that he was not prepared to take on. Ed’s relationship with his family also proves to be problematic as the lack of being connected with his mother and sister eliminates another possible resource that he and his children could benefit from having. Conflict is consistent in the McCoy and extended family members. There was a conflict in the marriage prior to Tina’s death over shared parenting responsibilities and a two-income home. Ed is conflicted because he desires to be a parent that is present in the lives of his children although his upbringing provided little to no example of how a father is involved in the lives of his children. There is a conflict between Ed, his mother-in-law, and his sister-in-law as they offer to assist with raising the children, but they do so in an aggressive manner putting Ed in a defensive state.
Assessment Tools
A family process assessment would be beneficial in this instance. The family process discusses the behaviors and interactions that show family functioning. Areas discussed are various ways of managing conflict and methods to solve problems. The concepts of distinction, individuation, verbal messaging, and influence among family members are explained by the family process assessment.
Summary of Family Structure and Functioning
The McCoy family is one that is saddled with grief, confusion, and inability to communicate. Ed lost his wife and is now charged with raising three children. Unfortunately for Ed, his upbringing nor his relationship with his deceased wife provided him with the ability to do so. Ed’s inability to recognize those wanting to support him during this unfortunate time of transition may create an irreparable wedge between his children and himself as they seek emotional support from elsewhere as they feel abandoned by their father.
Treatment/Intervention
What can be seen from this case is that communication proves to be the biggest barrier. Ed is ill-equipped to care for three young children alone. Unfortunately for Ed, he has never been in a situation where he was expected or taught to expect that he would be responsible for the nurturing aspect of parenthood. As a default, Ed continues with his traditional role; he continues to be a provider. Ed, his mother-in-law Grace, and his sister-in-law Rhonda are all grieving, but lack either the willingness or ability to discuss the pain associated with losing their loved one Tina.
A beneficial treatment would be that family-focused grief therapy. Family-focused grief therapy dives into a family’s feelings about the loss and ways of coping with a relative’s death. The goal is to encourage mutual grief resulting in the best possible family functioning. Family-focused grief therapy offers benefits as it enhances functioning in the family by exploring its cohesion, feelings surrounding the loss, and handling of conflict (Kissane, et al., 2006). The hope for this therapy is that all members will come to terms with not only the loss of Tina but also understand that the emotional health of themselves and the children requires everyone to work as a team.
Ed and the children would also benefit child parent relationship therapy. A major strain has been identified between Ed and his children. A concern mentioned by Ed is his lack of attachment to his children. Studies show that the bond created between an infant and the primary caregiver has a significant effect on the development of a child (Sergeant, 2011). Since birth, Tina was the primary caregiver to the children. Now that she is deceased this responsibility falls to Ed. Bringing Ed and the children into a therapeutic setting will allow this bond to be created. Ed will be shown the importance of his role as it relates to parenting and the children will foster the feeling of closeness with their remaining parent.
References
- Kissane, D. W., McKenzie, M., Bloch, S., Moskowitz, C., McKenzie, D. P., & O’Neill, a. I. (2006). Family Focused Grief Therapy: A Randomized, Controlled Trial in Palliative Care and Bereavement. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1208-1218.
- Sergeant, M. (2011). Efficacy of child-parent relationship therapy for caregivers of children with attachment problems. Louisville: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository.
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