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Answer & Explanation:Assignment1Pressuresand ChallengesJillis a single parent of one child, age 4, and is financially stable.She finds herself often questioned by friends and relatives about whyshe is not married. Jill decides to attend counseling to discuss someof the pressures and challenges she is facing from her family andfriends over her choice to raise her child alone.AsJill’s therapist/counselor, how would you work with her inidentifying strengths that she sees concerning being a single parent?How would you assist her in working with her family and friends whenthey question her decision? Reflect on your own family of origin inrelation to parenting. How would this impact your thinking as Jill’stherapist?Assignment2Divorceand Remarriage Case StudySherryand Phil are an interracial couple. They have been divorced for fiveyears after an eight-year marriage during which Phil was activemilitary and deployed two times. They have two children: Susie (12)and Greg (10). After the second deployment, for support, Sherry movedoff base with the children to live closer to her parents. She did notreturn to the base when Phil returned from his second deployment.Phil was upset; however, he understood and requested reassignment toan overseas post. He has since been discharged and has beenstruggling to find steady employment. Sherry and Phil divorced soonafter Phil’s return to the United States and his military discharge.Sherryand Phil attempt to co-parent their children and share equal custodybut live more than 50 miles from each other. This distance createstransportation challenges for both parents around school activities,sports, and time with friends for the children during visitations.BothSherry and Phil were single parents for several years and now eachhas remarried people with their own children. Sherry and her husband,Jim, who is Caucasian, have full custody of his 17-year-old twingirls. The whereabouts of their mother has been unknown for at least10 years.Phil,who is African American, and his wife, Jill, who is Caucasian, share50 percent custody of Jill’s 5-year-old son with her ex-husband, whois also remarried.Choosea stage of this family system—Sherry and Phil’s marriage while hewas active duty, Sherry and Phil’s divorce, Sherry and Phil’s singleparenthood, Sherry and Phil’s remarriages—and discuss thechallenges faced by both the adults and the children during this timeperiod. Pick one of these challenges, and use it as a presentingproblem for the family. As the family’s therapist or counselor,choose a systemic family therapy model, and discuss how you wouldapproach your work with this family in the context of the clinicalmodel.Addressthe following in your response: The types of questions you will ask according to your model. The types of interventions you will develop according to your model. The cultural and diversity issues that might arise for the client family and for you as the therapist or counselor.Assignment3ClinicalInterventions for Families Facing Illness and LossIntegratewhat you observed and learned from the video Emotionaland Practical Responses to Chronic Illness andthe readings from this unit into a discussion about how factors suchas onset, course, outcome, and degree of incapacitation of an illnessmay create differing stresses relating to the family’s stage oflife-cycle development. Address the following: What impact does illness, disability, or death of a family member have on the social and emotional stability of the family? What impact might misemployment or unemployment of individuals experiencing chronic illness or disability have on the family relationships and sense of self for the individual? How could the expected or anticipated future of the family change, and how might the family respond? What are some clinical interventions you could use as a counselor or therapist to

work with the emotional distress of the family system? How would you address issues of work and career for this client? Utilize the career decision-making models in your response, as discussed in course readings.Transcriptfor Assignment 3 Reporter:With chronic illnesses, simple activities are often daunting. Forexample, walking across a room can seem like a mile or driving to thegrocery store exhausting. Toni had to admit she had trouble withroutine tasks like turning the pages of a book, cooking, and evenstyling her hair. And Beverly has had some trouble coping with thelimitations of her condition.”It’sdifficult at times not being able to do the normal everyday things –take a shower, wash my hair – without being totally exhausted.”Reporter:Coping with a long-term illness is complex for both caregivers ad thecare receiver. An acute illness like appendicitis or pneumonia may beserious but can be diagnosed, treated, and resolved. A chronicillness is different. Receiving the diagnosis is only the beginning.There is then a host of emotional and practical issues that need tobe addressed. Here are some of the most important. Is independentliving an option? Is there a family member or a loved one that canact as a caregiver and assist in everyday activities? Are health careproviders, services, and facilities nearby and accessible? Whatfinancial restraints are there? Is the home disabled-friendly? Arethere stairs to climb? Is there a walk-in shower? Is there publictransportation and nearby shopping? Family and other caregiversshould participate in tackling these issues and in development of arealistic chronic care plan.”Thismay mean moving into somewhere where there’s transportation becauseyour ability to drive may be impaired, going into a first floorrather than a multiple story area is there is no elevator, thingslike that which would affect the physical aspect of your function orthe person’s function. The other aspect of course is the mentalaspect. You would want to be able to live independently if you canhandle your own affairs, such as pay your bills, do your checking,make decisions that would be reasonable. And you want to be able todo that without having clouding on your mental status – eitherclouding from an illness or clouding from some medications.”Reporter:For the McKinleys, the answers, though not simple, were clear. Edwould take an early retirement to care for Toni and they would moveto Florida where the weather was better for the arthritis.”Butwe settled on this particular location because it was close toeverything for her. She could walk to church. She could walk to herbank. She could walk to shopping. There’s a pool on the premiseswhere she goes into that pool and the exercises that she can do inthat pool are as beneficial for her – is much more than she couldever do just by walking or doing regular exercises.”Reporter:So while the diagnosis can indeed be devastating, living with achronic debilitating illness takes good communication, thoroughresearch, and a lot of patience. Host: That’s just it Julie. Peoplehave to be patient in finding the right health care provider andfinding the appropriate support services. They’re out there. Theyjust need to find them.Reporter:Well, to add to that, Perry, patients aren’t as mobile. Plus they’reoften tired, so getting the help that they need can be reallyfrustrating.Host:But it’s really worth the effort. Thanks Julie. We’ll have someadvice about where to find help you need if you or a loved one has achronic debilitating illness after today’s Healthy Body, Healthy MindQ&A.Question– many chronic pain sufferers have turned to what alternativetherapy? Answer – acupuncture. The National Institutes of Healthstates that there is evidence that acupuncture can effectively treatmany pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome,and cancer.