Introduction
One of the elements of people’s daily life and the integral part of being a member of society, communication might seem a thing in itself which is so obvious hat it does not need any considerations; however, to one’s great surprise, communication theory is one of the strongholds of the society, the element that needs and has to be researched in order to improve the existing state of affairs in the field of socializing, both concerning the private and the business life. According to the existing definition provided by Holmes (2005), communication theory presupposes delivering a message to the recipient, which “describes a set of words or images expressed somewhere, somehow – words in a newspaper ad, lyrics of a song, or pictures in a comic strip” (p. 17).
One of the most essential fields where the theory of communication can be applied, the sphere of family problem-solving is quite essential. Including a number of complicated issues that need to be tackled, the given issue offers a plethora of intriguing topics to dwell upon and a number of problems to consider.
General Overview: Concerning the Crisis Management Approach
Among the most essential issues concerning the use of communicational theory in the sphere of family therapy, it is necessary to consider the issue of crisis management. Since it is obvious that in most cases, the environment in which the family therapy is applied presuppose certain complexities concerning the sphere of the family members’ relationships, it is obvious that the crisis in the relations between the family members is to be eliminated or prevented from taking place, which the crisis management approach will contribute to sufficiently.
According to what Hurvitz & Straus (1991) say, crisis management helps to incur the changes, persuading the couple that these changes are inevitable and must have the most beneficial effect on the family. Hence, the main feature of the crisis management is the fact that the couple realizes the necessity to change and starts fighting actively against the given crisis. According to Hurvitz & Straus (1991),
The opening phase of therapy gives way to the change-inducing phase. In this phase, the sociocognitive therapist takes the spouses and family members back along the path which led them from personal limitations to interpersonal predicament to conflict to crisis. (p. 108)
Hence, the necessity to introduce the crisis management in the case of family therapy is obvious. With the help of the efficient intervention, the family members will succeed in their communication. Moreover, the further communication will be more efficient, since the spouses will learn to understand the needs and wants of each other.
Communication Theory and Psychology: The Ethical Issue
It is also worth keeping in mind when inventing the approach that will allow to resolve the issues among the family members and strengthen the relationships between the latter, introducing trust and reliability into the communication between the people that the ethical issues are of great importance. When outlining the strategy for the family therapy course, various ethical issues are to be taken into account; otherwise, the strategy of the family therapy might prove completely ineffective.
However, if taking a closer look at the problem of ethics in the sphere of family therapy, one must admit that there are certain complexities in understanding the idea of ethics in the given sphere. As Walrond-Skinner & Watson (1987) claim,
The Association’s Sub-Committee on Ethics organized and reported in the Newsletter (1983) two workshops whose members were practitioners of family therapy […]. Committee, responding to what it perceived to be general view of the membership, thought it inappropriate to prepare and publish a code of ethics (p. 142).
Hence, it must be admitted that the ethical issues have not been yet fully introduced in the sphere of family therapy. However, it is important to keep in mind the basic ethics of a medicine practitioner. Thus, the basic medical ethic standards are to be observed.
Conclusion
Judging from the issues analyzed above, it must be concluded that the issues concerning ethics and the approach that involves the crisis management techniques are of great importance for such means of the family problem solutions as the family therapy. Combined with family therapy, communicational theory offers efficient means and helpful strategies that permit to outline the correct behavior for the people who experience difficulties in their family lives, and at the same time crates the fundament for the future efficient communication. Moreover, it is essential that a communicational theory presupposes the consideration of ethics, which will allows the family members to treat each other in the most careful and respectful way, learning to appreciate each other’s cultural and moral standards. Hence, the role of communicational ethics in the sphere of family therapy is crucial.
With the help of the issues depicted above, the members of any family will be able to communicate in the most efficient way and reach mutual understanding. Once learning to convey their needs and wants to the partner, people will handle the complexities of the family life together with the partner, for both will handle the responsibility of living in a family.
References
Holmes, D. (2005). Communication theory: Media, technology and society. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Hurvitz, M., & Straus, R. A. (1991). Marriage and family therapy: A sociocognitive approach. New York, NY: Routledge.
Walrond-Skinner, S., & Watson, D. (1987). Ethical issues in family therapy. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.