The final assignment is to submit a personal family theory paper.  Please choose the family theory or theories (no more than three) you are most drawn to.  Examine the theoretical principles and how this or these approach(s) fit with who you are as a developing therapist. Discuss evidence-based outcomes that may exist in the peer-reviewed literature for this or these approach(es).  Explore how you think family’s change and how this theory or these theories, coincide with your ideas of change.  Talk about how your theory, or theories, interacts with your concepts of mental health and wellness.  What happens when psychopathology enters the picture and how does this occur? Please comment on how this theory helps you understand, and work with, the multicultural variable you anticipate that you will encounter as a clinician.  Finally, discuss any limitations of this theory.  What are your areas of growth with regard to integrating this theoretical approach(es) into your clinical style?

The paper is to be no more than 8-10 pages in length including the cover page and references page.  It is to be written in APA format, complete with title page, running headers, appropriate reference citations within the text of the paper, and a reference page at the end. The student must consult a minimum of 5 resources that have been published in the last 10 years - over and above the textbooks used in class and the class lecture notes.  These resources should be peer-reviewed articles or academic books written about the theory.  This paper provides the student with an opportunity to integrate counseling theory with clinical practice.  The paper will consist of a discussion of the student’s understanding of a marriage and family theory (or theories), how that theory is applied directly in clinical practice, how to apply the clinical approach with respect to multiculturalism and diversity, and how the student will integrate these in their clinical practice.

 

Grading Rubric

Criteria	Points Possible	Explanation
APA Formatting	0-5	·         0-3 errors in APA formatting (title page, font, running head, in-text citations, reference page). 5 points ·         4-6 errors in APA formatting. 3 points ·         More than 6 errors in APA formatting.  0 points
APA Style/Organization	0-5	·         0-3 errors in APA writing style, including concise, clear writing (word choice, transitions, colloquialisms, pronouns etc.), use of Section/Heading levels – clear introduction with ‘road map’ and conclusion. 5 points ·         4-6 errors in APA writing style (as listed above). 3 points ·         More than 6 errors writing style (as listed above). 0 points
Mechanics	0-5	·         0-1 errors in grammatical, punctuation, capitalization, spelling. 5 points ·         2-4 errors in grammatical, punctuation, capitalization, spelling. 3 points ·         5 or more grammatical, punctuation, capitalization, spelling. 0 points
Evidence of Critical Thinking	0-15	Expanding upon the process of previously developed papers: ·         The student will identify a family theory or theories to discuss and how it will be applied directly to clinical practice while addressing multiculturalism and diversity.  Within the body of the paper, the student will present evidence-based outcomes about the theory from peer-reviewed articles relevant to the theory and clinical practice.  The student will discuss how families change and how the theory, or theories, align with their idea about change as well as how it interacts with the student’s concept of mental health and wellness.  Additionally, the student will examine the limitations of this theory along with what are the student’s area of growth for integrating this approach into the student’s clinical style along with provide support for the theory and adequately address personal implications while using literature evidence, recombining the ideas of all researchers to support student’s theory of choice. 20 points  ·         The student attempts to address the above, but within the body of the paper, the student does not present adequate evidence in the body of research for their topic.  In addition, the student’s attempt to provide support for the theory and address personal clinical implications as well as student’s concept of change and mental health and wellness was limited, the student did not establish a strong position or provide support for their position with literature evidence, or did not recombining the ideas of all researchers to support the chosen theory. 15 points ·         The student attempts to address all the above but does not support their preferred family theory with any literature resources, or recombine the ideas of all researchers. 5 points ·         The student did not meet the criteria above.  0 points
Research Articles	0-10	·         5 or more peer reviewed research articles used. 10 points ·         3-4 peer reviewed research articles used. 7 points ·         3-4 peer reviewed research articles used. 3 points ·         1-2 peer reviewed research articles used. 1 point ·         0 peer reviewed articles.  0 points
Rough Draft	0-5	·         Student brings hard copy of a rough draft to class – including a minimum of title page, an outline with identified section headers, and reference page with 4-5 initial sources in APA format.   5 points ·         Rough draft includes the above with only 2-3 references listed.  3 points ·         No rough draft brought to class.  0 points
Total Points	45