Constructing a Genogram

In this particular activity, we were tasked to contruct a genogram of our partner. One will first relate the details of own family as the partner notes necessary information. It is important that the interpretation be done by both members of the dyad. The following are the thoughts and insights gained:

As a counselor:

To know the person thoroughly, it is not proper to focus only on one particular aspect. The person is more than his/her past, present, and futuristic goals. It is important to look at his/her family background or generational patterns. The dyad realized how family therapy is applicable to the Filipino culture. Sometimes, people are so prone to neglecting and overlooking important factors such as their family of origin, not knowing how their relatives' lives have influenced them. Although it is not proper to generalize, we think that Family Therapy, particularly constructing a genogram, can really help a client discover the details of his/her life. This particular therapy is very useful in understanding the self at a deeper sense. However, one should always be cautious not to go blaming life's circumstances to the discovered generational patterns. In conclusion, the therapy should be able to help the client gain awareness and be able to address the dominant issue of their family and decide for him/herself to bring about change.

As a counselee:

Sharing details of own family is not as easy as we think it is. There are certain things that are difficult to disclose especially if you are not that comfortable sharing to your counselor. With this we learned that it is important to try to be spontaneous while sharing life stories. Family therapy, from a counselee's point of view is one very exciting type of therapy since information about the family is almost always available at hand and that you can always have something to say about your own family. It is really amazing how drawing one's genogram can bring out neglected issues in families and other patterns. Also, we learned that we have to be truthful to every words that we say, and that we should always be careful not to exaggerate stories and other details. In this way, there can be a meaningful interpretation and clear understanding of how our family affects our lives.

Behavior Therapy Dyad Activity

Pia’s anxiety - not being able to meet personal expectations.
Majoy’s phobia – lizards

The behavior therapy dyad activity we had is useful because during and even after the processing we realized and found a way to release stress and anxiety that is applicable in our daily lives. What we did was we thought hard, drew back our anxieties in the past, and used them for this activity. It felt awkward doing the therapy in the beginning because we had to do it seriously and it was just too hard to concentrate because a lot of external factors came into play; we did the activity on a very tiring afternoon after a whole day class and deadlines of projects and thesis distracted us from keeping an eye on the activity. Majoy did not have a hard time thinking or remembering an anxiety or phobia because she knew exactly what she is anxious about. She is very much afraid of lizards and she can say that it really hinders her to do things at home especially that lizards are considered house animals. Pia had quite a hard time thinking of an anxiety because she has no phobia whatsoever with animals, things or situations. She just remembered that she is very much anxious about not being able to meet personal expectations and it sometimes cause her to get depressed or to even doubt her capabilities when she fails to do what she expects of herself.

The succeeding instructions were hypothetical and it really was a fun part since it’s more like “what would you do if you were given a chance to do things in your own way or make things, which you think is impossible, to happen?” We had the craziest ideas and it felt good to share experiences and situations that hindered us from doing some things because of those anxieties and phobias.

As we ended with the activity, we realized that it was intended to make us feel powerful. It would really be empowering to imagine that our particular anxieties are so small and they can be something that can just be placed in a container and we can watch them from afar- far enough that they can no longer affect us. However, the need to focus is really important. We lacked that particular element and it really affected the outcome of the designed activity. Also, as we learned from our discussion of Behavior Therapy in our class, dealing with the anxiety (or doing a behavioral therapy) moves from simple to complex and from less threatening to more threatening and we can’t expect an abrupt change after doing one activity like this. During our reflection/ sharing of insights after the activity, Majoy, on one hand, stressed out that the activity is good but it did not even lessen her fear of lizards. She very well knows that her fear of lizards causes her so many hindrances, and though she sometimes wants to face her fear, or thinks that she wants to solve that anxiety, she still can not. Many people tried to explain to her that lizards are harmless and even give facts about lizards but they’re just of no use. She said someday when she’s really ready to face her fear, she might seek professional help because she admits that she won’t be able to do it even if she’s willing enough. She is aware that there are some patterns of her thinking that is maladaptive and there are beliefs and experiences that underlie such thinking. And even though a part of her is willing to face the fear, she is a person in distress and she is likely to hold her beliefs about lizards with great conviction. She feels that with a therapist’s help, she might be enlightened with it and her biases in thinking (or irrational beliefs about lizards) might be resolved. On the other hand, Pia’s anxiety occurs when she fails to meet the expectations she set for herself, which is not a very frequent occurrence since she knows her capabilities and she won’t set goals that are not attainable. She said this activity gave her an idea, a way rather to release her anxieties whenever she feels depressed for not accomplishing a goal that she has set for herself.