This document discusses the author's family dynamics. Some key points: 1) The family has 6 members with varying personalities who don't always get along but find ways to laugh together. 2) Daily conflicts occur between certain siblings and parents who have trouble understanding each other. 3) A recent coming out experience led the family to have open discussions on handling disclosure to ensure honesty but also respect each member. 4) Overall the author feels their family has grown closer through confronting differences and changes together over time.

1. Adam Monroe
FAMILY COLLAGE

2. Two Sides To Every Family
 My family is very  My family is very
loving. dysfunctional.

3. My not so normal, but normal family
Dad: He’s a pretty straight forward guy, is family oriented and loves when
everyone is home. He gets along with everyone but usually plays favorite with
my older brother, because they have a lot in common.
 Mom: Very funny, spontaneous, and usually plays favorite with my sister because
she is the youngest, only girl, and they have a lot in common.
 Ryan: Older brother. Funny, likes sports, having fun and has daily conflict with
my mom.
 Josh: Second oldest. Very smart, school oriented, quite, and both my parents
agree he is the “parent favorite”.
 Me: I’m all over the place.
 Amelia: Very independent, but likes to laugh. Daily conflict with my Dad.
 OVERALL: We are all very different from each other.

4. Constant Conflict
Family members fight
with each other in
different ways. Over
time, most families
develop their rules for
conflictual situations.
My family tends to
bicker and have small
fights quite frequently.
It can get very annoying
and old because its
daily. Like the image,
someone is fighting,
and if it has nothing to
do with you, don’t get
involved.

5. Unresolved Conflict.
 Unresolved conflict is associate with low relationship satisfaction. In my family,
we deal with unresolved conflict by avoiding the issue and direct the
communication to areas that bring cohesion.
 The conflict is usually between a parent and a child. My dad tends to fight with
my sister, and my mom with my older brother. My guess is because they don’t
seem to understand each other. My Dad doesn’t understand why my sister has to
see her boyfriend constantly, while my mom doesn’t understand why my brother
has to spend 3 hours playing basketball. As a result, its a constant arm wrestle.

6. How Do we Deal with it?
 My family loves to laugh and we laugh quite a bit. Even
though the conflict is annoying, we can always turn it
around and have a good time.

7. Decision Making
Decision making help to
regulate the closeness
or distance of family
members. The more
complex the family
system, the more
important the decision
patterns.
Decision making, like
power, is a process that
belongs to the family
system, not an
individual.

8. A Big Decision.
 I recently “came out” to my parents and it was one of the
biggest changes in my family. My parents and siblings
had nothing wrong with it, but they didn’t know how to
tell everyone else. I didn’t see the problem, but since
we’re a very honest family, we tried to figure out a way to
handle it. I was slightly annoyed, but understood where
my parents were coming from.

9. There’s many principles
that help guide families
through decision making.
My family created a sense
of autonomy by respecting
my right to free choice in
order to carry out actions
that enhance my life. It
also helped create a sense
of loyalty by carrying out
decisions mutually agreed
apon.
My family has a good way
of making decisions
because we do it as a
family. If it is a serous
decision, its going to effect
all of us.

10. Good Self Disclosure
 Self Disclosure is an important complex, and difficult
type of communication. It is described as occurring when
one person voluntarily tells another about themselves. I
think to have a close family, you must talk to each other.
My family is very close and we always can open up to
each other.

11. Bad Self Disclosure.
 Self Disclosure in my family hasn’t always been easy and has
caused many problems.
 My sister usually tells my mother everything, while my oldest
brother tells my dad everything. I usually will tell my parents
together, or it depends on the topic. It’s bad to hide things
from parents because it usually never ends well and someone
feels left out. It’s almost like a half secret because one parent
knows, while the other doesn’t.

12. The Answer..Interdependence?
 Family members who confront there
differences, can improve there relationship.
 I feel that if my brother and sister confronted
my parents on how they feel, it could change
how they self disclose.

13. Family Development.
As a family, we grow
with each other. The
conflicts and changes
that happen everyday,
only bring you closer.
Families are meant to
help and support you,
as you move forward
with your life.

14. For The Love Of Family
 My family is so unique and I wouldn’t want it any other
way. We love spending time together and love to laugh. I
feel very lucky be loved and supported by my family.