PCSBV VOLUNTEER TRAINING PROGRAM
MODULE 4: FAMILY & FAMILY DYNAMICS
The Role that Volunteers Play in Supporting Families
This module explores the complex dynamics that form within families and your role as a volunteer within these dynamics. Below are links to video clips, as well as readings and assignments that will help you explore the world of family relationships.
To begin, please read module 3 of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association's
handbook, "Family and Family Dynamics"
Assignment: Create a Family Map
For this assignment, we are asking you to create a family map, similar to the image below.
Start with yourself in the middle and draw out from you connections to members of your family. Use squares for males and circles for females. Play with other shapes to represent non-genetic relationships (in-laws or friends who you consider family).
An X through a shape indicates they are deceased. Use the symbols in the legend at the right side of the graphic, or create your own legend and symbols relevant for your family.
Now consider what it would be like for a caregiver to attend one of the people on your map. What kind of dynamics will they be faced with as they navigate your family?
Good Boundaries Free You
Sarri Gilman | TEDxSnoIsleLibraries
This talk was given at a local TEDxSnoIsleLibraries event and produced independently of the TED Conferences. Sarri Gilman has found that clear boundaries enhance relationships and the quality of life.
Sarri is author of “Transform Your Boundaries,” which she based on insights gleaned from decades of experience as a marriage and family therapist.
Boundaries Self-Reflection Exercise
This exercise invites self-reflection on personal and professional boundaries as a volunteer. There is not necessarily a right or wrong answer here. This exercise is to aid discussion regarding your personal and role boundaries. To which of the following situations would you say no? Why?
The Family Tree Exercise
Many of us are familiar with the family tree that traces lineage and relationship based on marriage, birth and death. But if we understand that the...
“Family consists of people who are tied emotionally, spiritually, economically and socially to one another either by birth or by choice. Members are brought together through different circumstances (birth, marriage, choice, friendship, etc.) to form a complex system which functions according to fixed and changing internal and external influences.”
...then we are able to adapt the family tree to explore this broader concept of family. This also opens a new perspective on our own families and the alternatives and choices that shape family patterns.
We invite you to explore your family tree by examining your relationships – people who are tied emotionally, spiritually, economically and socially to one another by birth or by choice - through various life stages:
- Early childhood
- Public school
- High school
- College/university/apprenticeship
- Work
- Relationships
- Childbearing and child-rearing
- Retirement.
Remember: don’t limit your thoughts to “blood relations”. Think about how family changed for different members of your family at different times in their lives.
Consider:
- frequency of contacts
- who is closest to whom
- where are family members located
- who were decision-makers or communicators for the family.
Begin exploring the broader concept of family by taking one individual from your family tree and reviewing their experience of family through the various life stages. For example, starting with yourself and early childhood, who were family to you and why? Mom, Dad, siblings, the nanny, a grandmother who lived with you, your daycare caregiver, close family friends, etc. Move on to the next stage, public school, and continue to identify family – Mom, Dad, a favourite aunt, a special teacher, your best friend, etc.
Look for patterns and think about the choices your family members made and what influenced these choices.
Directing Families to Community Resources
PCSBV has developed a resource guide that can be used to help provide information and referral support to anyone that might call the office or request help from our volunteers.
Along with running our own program, PCSBV staff are thoroughly familiar with other services available to the residents of the Bow Valley region.
The PCSBV Resource Guide is available online and in print for those who need it.
COMPLETE THE MODULE DEBRIEF
