The Intentional Family Sample Essay

The Intentional Family is a book about beef uping household connexions and relationships through mundane rites. vacation jubilations. particular occasions and community engagement. The book serves as a usher to assist households transform simple household modus operandis into household rites. It discusses the importance of being consistent with good household rites and compromising to alter rites that do non work. Doherty provinces that household rites provide four of import things. predictability. connexions. individuality. and a manner to ordain values. He gives many illustrations and suggestions on how households can outdo create rites from activities they may already be making. Many households have rites that they feel “stuck” with. Doherty besides offers suggestions on how to animate those rites so they are more gratifying.

Family rites involve more than one household member. but non needfully all members of the household. Doherty breaks rites into three classs. Connection rites involve mundane activities such as household repasts. forenoon and bedtime modus operandis and household excursions. Love rites focus on doing single household members feel particular. Love rites can be divided into couple rites. such as “date nights” and day of remembrances. and special-person rites like birthdays. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Community rites include major household events like nuptialss and funerals. They besides include any activity affecting a wider societal web than merely household. giving the household a opportunity to both addition and give support to friends. neighbours and the community.

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Doherty recommends households repasts as the best manner to get down developing household rites. He is really flexible with his suggestions. acknowledging that one manner will non work for all households. Doherty encourages households to get down taking little stairss toward making household rites at meal clip by being more knowing about what clip you eat. where household members sit. and how the repast is served.

Because predictability is so of import to making household rites. Doherty explains the stages of a household rite in his book. A household rite has three stages. a transitional stage. an enactment stage and an issue stage. It is of import to pay attending to these stages when seeking to beef up or better your household rites. The transitional stage of the ritual provides a separation of the ritual from mundane affairs. This could be puting the dinner tabular array. illuming a taper. etc. It lets household members know that it’s clip to concentrate on one another. The enactment stage takes topographic point during the ritual itself. For illustration. eating dinner and interacting with household members. The end of this stage is to bask each other’s company and reconnect as a household. The issue stage takes topographic point as the household passages back into their day-to-day activities with less focal point on one another. After a repast. a household may make up one’s mind to wait until everyone is finished eating before they all leave the tabular array.

Aside from household repasts. Doherty suggest the easiest manner to make household rites is to get down with what you already bask making as a household and so make it more deliberately. This can be traveling to eat at your favourite eating house. or traveling out for ice pick. Not all rites need to affect disbursement money ; Doherty besides gives suggestions of taking a household walk or traveling fishing. Rituals can besides be established around normal day-to-day activities such as children’s bed clip. For twosomes. Doherty’s recommends traveling to bed at the same clip. This provides an chance to reconnect as a twosome.

The most hard portion of set uping rites. is merely that ; the establishing of the ritual. Doherty describes three methods of originating or altering rites. The direct path involves stipulating demands of the household. and listening to household members before proposing alterations. The household so negotiates before seeking something out and evaluates how it worked. The 2nd method is the indirect path. This occurs when a household member creates an experience before suggesting it go a ritual. A 3rd option is to originate or alteration rites through find. Once you realize you enjoy something you have already experienced. suggest doing it a ritual. What Did You Learn?

The most of import construct I have learned from reading The Intentional Family by William Doherty is that excessively many people are content to merely allow life “happen” . Dougherty uses the illustration of seting a canoe into the Mississippi River. If you do nil. you will head south. If you want to travel another way or even remain where you are. you have to work hard and hold a program. The same applies to holding a household. A twosome must be after and work at holding a stopping point. connected household. Dougherty suggests this can be accomplished through the knowing planning of household rites.

Before reading this book. I had non given a batch of idea to household rites. I recognized that my household had rites. but didn’t understand the impact it can hold on relationships. I have learned that household rites can hold a greater consequence on households if they are planned to hold significance and significance for the household. There are many illustrations of activities I have done with my childs that we have enjoyed. but by neglecting to reiterate them. I have missed out on making a ritual. For an activity to be a meaningful rite. it needs to be repeated. By reiterating these activities. you are increasing the predictability or stableness kids need. Predictability is one of the four of import things that household rites provide. A 2nd benefit of set uping household rites is the connexion the rites provide for household members. Whether it’s reading a bed clip narrative to a kid. or doing the attempt to reconnect with your partner at bedtime. rites increase the connexion household members have. Rituals besides give households a sense of individuality. Participating in vacation dinners and household excursions gives people a sense of belonging to a household. Rituals can besides be used as a manner to show household values. You’re family’s rites show whether traveling to church. volunteering in the community or vising grandparents are of import to you and your household.

I have besides realized through reading this book that household rites do non hold to stay the same if they are non gratifying for the household. Many need fine-tuning if nil else. A ritual should non be burdensome for any household member. The best illustration I can believe of is my family’s vacation repasts. My ma is the “coordinator” of all vacations. When asked if she needs aid. she will ever state no. She so ends up being stressed for hebdomads before and exhausted the twenty-four hours of. After reading this book. I am better prepared for reshaping this ritual. In the yesteryear. I would accept her stating that I shouldn’t conveying anything or make anything to fix for the repast. I believe now. that if I explain to her that I would experience more included in the vacation if I was allowed to convey a dish. she would lief accept my aid. It’s merely a deficiency of communicating that has prevented us from set uping this. She feels that she doesn’t want to burthen me with inquiring for aid. so I feel like a load to her when I see her exhausted from cooking all twenty-four hours and stop up experiencing guilty and go forthing early.

I have besides learned how rites can extinguish pandemonium from a busy household. By set uping a day-to-day forenoon routing and every night bedtime everyday kids know what to anticipate without holding to be told by a parent. One of my biggest challenges as a parent is acquiring my kids to make what is expected of them the first clip I ask. I get frustrated when I have to inquire several times or raise my voice. The hardest portion of set uping these rites is the consistence. After reading the book. I understand how the predictability of the ritual benefits my kids. and hopefully I can originate more meaningful rites in my household. Knowing that research has been done and it has been found that household rites are of import to keeping households together will be my motive for being more knowing with my ain. Highlights of the book

In The Intentional Family. Doherty negotiations about the antonym of an Intentional Family. the Entropic Family. The Entropic Family lacks the attending to rites and traditions. which easy fade manner over clip. Society contributes to the creative activity of Entropic Families by neglecting to back up households during times of unwellnesss and child birth. Parents are pressured to hotfoot back to work to gain a payroll check. Our current manner of life besides prohibits household rites from happening by make fulling our clip with busy work agendas. telecastings. the cyberspace. etc. We miss out on eating dinner as a household due to children’s activities. patterns and games. After working all twenty-four hours and running kids around all eventide. parents are excessively tired to reconnect with their kids over a bedtime narrative or reconnect with their partner after the childs go to bed. Without the knowing planning of these activities and events. these forces pull households off from minutes of pass oning and bonding.

One of Doherty’s ends in this book to assist households transform modus operandis or activities into a household rite. He points out that household rites give households four of import things ; predictability. connexion. individuality and a manner to ordain values. Knowing that a ritual such as a bedtime narrative will take topographic point gives the household something to look frontward to. if it is non consistent or predictable. so the ritual loses its consequence. Rituals of connexion should happen between both parents and kids. and between twosomes themselves. For illustration. twosomes who go to bed at different times are losing an chance to reconnect and may lose connexion over clip. Family rites provide a sense of belonging to the household. giving people a particular individuality as a household member. Rituals besides provide a manner to show what a household believes is of import and to reenforce household values such as faith. engagement in community. or caring for elder household members.

Doherty classifies rites into classs harmonizing to the map they have. Connection rites include household repasts. bedtime modus operandis. holidaies. etc. These rites give households the chance to bond over every twenty-four hours events. Love rites help to develop familiarity between two household members. Some illustrations are day of remembrances. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. These rites usual occur when two household members spend some one-to-one clip and lead to household members experiencing particular. Events such as nuptialss and funerals are considered community rites. The book states that it has been found that the healthiest households give to their community and have support back.

The Intentional Family non merely guides household into set uping rites. but helps households evaluate their current rites. Families are encouraged to inquire themselves if their current rites are run intoing their family’s demands for connexion. significance and community. It helps them place what countries their household ritualise good and what countries need betterment. Some sample inquiries a household could inquire themselves include: * Is a ritual missing where you would wish one to be?

* What is the current ritual lacking?
* Is at that place excessively much duty placed on one household member? * Is there an underlying household job aching the ritual? In seeking to set up new rites. avoid implementing alterations without discoursing why a alteration might be helpful. Adults should discourse and hold on these alterations before moving on them. Children may defy alteration at first. but a ritual that works good will finally win the kids over. As many household members as possible should be involved with the planning to add intending to the rite. Having clear outlooks will assist extinguish struggle. As household members grow up and household construction alterations. rites may be more hard to maintain integral. Good rites should be held on to. while being unfastened to alter to suit a altering household. Most households become used to the manner things have ever been done in the yesteryear. Even if these activities aren’t gratifying. they feel the demand to go on them. This can take to atrocious vacation get-togethers where no 1 is basking themselves. By measuring these activities and going more knowing with the planning of them. households can set up household rites that reconnect them as a household. Thingss I Didn’t Like

From the minute I started reading this book. I couldn’t set it down. I have decided that this will be my “go-to gift” for nuptialss and showers. Not everything in the book was applicable for my household. but I liked the manner the writer was flexible with his suggestions. I have saved this subdivision of the paper for last. and have struggled to come up with anything that I didn’t like about this book. I decided to make some research and seek to happen things that other people disliked about the book. I have found readers who feel that the first chapter on why being an knowing household is of import and last chapter on how to be an knowing household were the lone chapters deserving reading. While this may be true for households with already established strong household rites. many rites can still be improved upon by measuring what is working and what needs betterment. It is particularly valuable for a household who is traveling through alterations such as divorce and demand to set up new rites. Another unfavorable judgment of the book has been that it didn’t include a batch of research stuff or statistics on how the information was good to clients. Client Benefits

Through the usage of mundane rites. The Intentional Family offers ways households can open communicating channels between parents and their kids. or between hubbies and married womans. The client may acknowledge activities they already do as an chance to set up household rites. These can change from shared household repasts and holidaies. to regular “storytime. ” hebdomadal thrusts. spiritual services. and monthly “date nights” for partners. These rites are of import to make more lasting bonds between household members. Most clients are traveling to see rites that may non be gratifying. Whether that may be observing vacations or forenoon modus operandis with the kids. the book can assist pull off these day-to-day events and assist client set up rites that cut down struggle and supply an chance to reconnect with each other. Clients won’t be overwhelmed with this information as the writer advises get downing little. perchance with doing alterations to household repast clip. While society is forcing households into going an entropic household. this book can assist counter that by promoting knowing actions.

Impact on Developing Counselors
Reading and understanding the constructs discussed in The Intentional Family can be really good to a developing counsellor. The impact that household members have on one another’s mental good being is so significant that it is critical for a counsellor to be knowing on ways to better those connexions and relationships. This book in peculiar provides a huge sum of information on assorted types of relationships. It covers twosomes. households. drawn-out households and households traveling through divorce. There is information that can use to a individual parent household every bit good as measure parent and measure kids relationships. Many household issues can be resolved through effectual communicating and committedness.

The Intentional Family offers ways to better on both of those countries. Making new bonds or bettering upon those are ways for households to better relationships while traveling through reding. Whether reding parents or kids. it is utile for a counsellor to understand the impact household rites or deficiency of can hold on clients. I feel that as a counsellor. the book provides an tremendous sum of information and penetration into how rites can impact every type of household. I enjoyed reading the first-hand history on how different households incorporated household rites into their household modus operandis. whether they were honeymooners. grass widows. or households covering with teen-agers. The book provides a resource when covering with households who are fighting. Doherty states that merely an knowing household has a contending opportunity to keep and increase its sense of connexion. significance and community over the years” ( Doherty 2002 ) .

Mentions:

Doherty. W. J. ( 2002 ) . The Intentional Family. New York: Harper Collins.

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