Experiential And Strategic Models Essay

The Experiential and Strategic Models and the Principles of Love and Romance

Introduction
Romance is one of the fundamental elements in a successful relationship. It is defined as a love affair according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2005). Love also plays a key role in successful relationships and is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as strong affection towards an individual (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2005). Quite often couples lose themselves in life and forget these are the things that their relationship was built on and find themselves in need of counseling. There are several different models utilized in counseling families and couples. Among the most successful are strategic and experiential models. The Strategic models are interactional family therapy, brief family therapy and strategic family therapy (Goldenberg&Goldenberg, 2008). Of the experiential models-those techniques that are useful in developing productive relationships are first and second order-changes. The first and second order changes provide those involved with the tools needed to help change unhealthy interactive patterns according to the text. In the traditional family, this will help with the development of effective communication skills for the children involved, giving them the tools needed to have productive relationships. The strategic therapy’s “now” approach encourages couples to deal with issues stifling their emotional growth.   Together these things, used aggressively will give the couple tools needed to conquer issues beyond treatment. This research paper is a comprehensive overview of the experiential and strategic models; it also includes summaries of related research studies, and diagnostic information concerning Major Depressive Disorder.
The Models
According to the information provided in Goldenberg & Goldenberg’s Family Therapy an Overview, Carl Whitaker developed Symbolic-Experiential Family...