Begin by selecting a topic from your experience with your family [or someone else’s family (friend’s, fictional, historical or media)] concerning a challenging family issue.
Next, you will create two family role plays where the family addresses a difficult topic.
The family discussion you write should be between two or more family members and should include a narrator and/or an observer who helps guide and explain what is happening in the scene. Watch the Russ Family Role PlayLinks to an external site. for an example of a difficult family dialogue. See how the therapist helps guide the scene, while the voice-over actor helps to explain the scene. You may employ one or both of these character types within your scenes. Write out your role plays as you would write out a script for a playLinks to an external site..
Role Play #1: Destructive Family Discussion:
In this role play, before the family dialogue begins, make sure to identify the challenging topic which will be discussed, give an overview of the history of this topic as it has been played out previously (e.g., either addressed or avoided) in the family, and introduce the family members and their relationships to one another. Have the family members engage in what you believe would be a typical discussion on this challenging topic, and include some destructive, dysfunctional, or difficult communication behavior. Make sure to have all family members participate, including reacting to what others are saying.
Role Play #2: Constructive Family Discussion:
The second role play can be a whole new scene, or an extension of the first role play. In this scenario, the family members will address the same difficult topic, but in a more constructive manner. If anyone in the family expressed examples of Gottman’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (i.e., criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling) in the first role play scenario, make sure to allow the family members to utilize the antidotes to the Four Horsemen that you researched last week (e.g., using “I” statements). Wrap up your second presentation by highlighting how the family members improved their initial communication strategies from the first role play.