The Trump Family
Who are the Trumps? The Trumps are a nuclear family living in the White House in Washington D.C. Donald Trump has been married thrice and is currently married to Melania Trump, the First Lady of the United States. Donald has five children from three different marriages that range in age from as young as 10 years old to 38 years old. Donald Trump is 70 years old, and has a long successful career in business and real estate. Melania is 46 years old, and is an immigrant from Slovenia. She worked as a model before marrying Donald at age 33. Shortly after, they had their son, Barron, who is 10 years old. The Trump family has an unusual dynamic. Because Donald is busy with his presidential duties a majority of the time, he does not have a close relationship with his wife and youngest son. However, he has a closer relationship with his three older children, Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka, who also work for him in the White House. Donald Trump spends most of his time at work, golfing, or tweeting angrily at the public. Donald constantly finds himself on the wrong side of an argument, and to his credit, he is frequently the victim of bullying by news networks. This bullying has not only led to low self-esteem, but has also instilled a desire to prove himself to the world by compensating. For example, Donald frequently boasts about his rise to power and often makes remarks about his incredible intelligence. Donald feels that large news corporations are out to get him, and in response he feels the need to discredit their work, referring to CNN as the “Fake News Network�. On top of all of this, Donald has faced conspiracy charges, while receiving little support from his own inner circle, where his own advisors and close colleagues frequently resign.
Meet the Family... Ivanka, the oldest daughter of Donald and only daughter from his first marriage, is an unpaid assistant to her father’s administration. She is married to Jared Kushner, a prominent real estate developer and senior advisor to the President. 36 Year old Kushner has taken on diplomatic relations for the United States with Mexico, China, and Canada, despite having no prior experience. Kushner is Jewish and Ivanka has converted to Judaism. Donald has recently appealed to have Ivanka and Jared removed from the White House amid recent tensions. The couple has reportedly made attempts to prevent Tiffany Trump, Ivanka’s half-sister, from receiving any of her father’s estate. Donald Jr. is the oldest son of Donald and is a product of his previous marriage to Ivana. He is currently executive vice president of the Trump Organization, which has been a family run company since the early 20th century. Trump Jr. has been criticized for hunting big game and posing with dead animals. He is married to Vanessa Trump and has five children. Vanessa claims to carry a gun at home and has a license to carry a concealed weapon. She is also a member of a local shooting organization and serves as an executive member of a Trump family charity organization. She frequently faces harsh criticism from the media. Eric Trump is the youngest of Donald’s marriage to Ivana and also serves as an executive vice president of the Trump Organization. Eric oversees many of his father’s business interests, including luxury golf courses and hotels. It has been reported that his father is not very supportive of him. This could possibly be the result of Eric facing controversial charges about big game hunting with his older brother, as well as some tweets that impeded his father’s campaign for presidency. Eric does have a soft side, however, as evidenced by his charity that pledged 28 million dollars to help children with life threatening diseases.
Narcissism Donald Trump suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, as is evidenced by his baffling statements about his apparent high level of intelligence and his desire for admiration. Donald finds it difficult to maintain relationships, and has an extreme lack of empathy for others. Donald finds it difficult to maintain close relationships, and many of his close friends and colleagues criticize and desert Donald. He also suffers from low self-esteem and is incredibly sensitive to criticism, especially from the media. News outlets frequently take advantage of Donald’s vulnerability to criticism and often nudge him into saying radical things, which often lead to anger, frustration, and more withered self-esteem. Despite his incredible accomplishments in life, Donald frequently seeks admiration and while boasting about accomplishments on social media and during press conferences.
Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by an unsubstantiated feelings of self-importance (Townsend, 2015)). The person with this personality disorder has high feelings of self worth, an obsession with power, brilliance, beauty, and has a constant need for attention (Townsend, 2015). They often lack empathy and exploit others for personal gain while being preoccupied with pursuing admiration and acceptance from others. People with this disorder often find it difficult to respond to criticism and often react with feelings of humiliation or rage. Other common characteristics include feelings of entitlement, lack of empathy, argumentative, superficial, and relationships are often wrought with power struggles (Varcarolis, 2015).
Developmental Stage While Donald and Melania do have a school aged child, they also have four older children, which are the ultimate focus of the family, especially when considering allocating roles, space, power, and communication. Therefore, the Trump family is in the families with young adults: launching stage, which is when family members move out and begin taking on new roles, a very important and often complex stage of the family cycle (Kaakinen et al., 2015). Because Donald has divorced twice and has a wife that is 24 years younger than him, the family dynamic is complicated and does not follow a regular path. Because of this, many of the changes that have occurred throughout this family cycle can be seen as nonnormative, or off time. Some of the changes during this phase have caused unbalance in the Trump family. Ivanka and Jared Kushner, for example have taken on large roles in Donald’s company and administration, all the while taking on new roles and identities within the family. Donald has not adjusted particularly well to these changes, as is evidenced by his recent falling out with Jared and Ivanka. Donald has also reportedly begun to distrust his son, Eric, who is in charge of some of the family companies assets, such as Trump Golf Clubs and luxury hotels. This inability to adapt to the stressors of change are hurting the family at the very core. The family is also in the families with school age children stage thanks to 10 year old Barron, the only child of Donald’s most recent marriage.
Communication Verbal: ● Donald frequently tweets his feelings about his family members and friends ● Donald and family members often communicate via media outlets, during press conferences, and in news articles ● Ivanka and Jared only speak with Tiffany Trump through lawyers due to an ongoing dispute ● Overall verbal communication seems to be lacking due to the business of the family and being spread out all over the world, as well as the tensions that have grown in the immense spotlight the family has received Nonverbal: ● Donald makes nonverbal facial gestures that usually indicate that he is in disagreement, such as eye rolling, smiling, and hand gestures ● Melanie is frequently seen upset during press conferences and public appearances. She has been seen crying after Donald won the election and had been photographed looking very angry at Donald ● Melania has refused to hold Donald’s hand in public while clearly looking upset ● Donald recently downgraded Jared Kushner’s top secret security clearance to secret, which has been seen as a non verbal jab
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The Trump family consists mostly of practicing presbyterians and attend Marble Collegiate Church in Lower Manhattan More recently, Donald has stated that he is not an active member of the church, but still considers himself religious Jared Kushner is Jewish and Ivanka converted to Judaism before her marriage with Kushner The family has lived in luxury for the entirety of its existence and the family has boasted about it’s summer home in Palm Beach known as Mar a Lago. The mansion consists of 128 rooms and has several million dollars worth of gold plated fixtures and decorations The Trump family also operates the Trump Organization, a company that consists of multiple business ventures, such as hotels, golf courses, and real estate to name a few The Trump family currently resides in the White House in Washington D.C., which Donald’s older children living in the surrounding suburbs The Trump family has an incredible amount of wealth and is surrounded by success. Donald’s great uncle is Henry J. Heinz, founder of the Heinz Company
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The family is financially stable The older children in the family appear to be able to take over family operations if needed The family has the protection of the U.S. government The family has the best resources in the world in terms of doctors, psychiatrists, etc.
Challenges ●
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Donald and the rest of the family is often ridiculed by the media The entire world is watching the family at all times The family has an unusual dynamic, with Melania being 24 years younger than Donald and a child, Barron who is 12 years younger than the next youngest child Donald suffers from narcissistic personality disorder Donald has a very high pressure job Donald and Jared are facing conspiracy charges Donald is being investigated for cheating on Melania with a former adult film actress
Family Assessment and Intervention model
The Family Assessment and Intervention Model is based on the systems theory and is modified to focus on the family rather than the person (Kaakinen et al., 2015). Families are constantly changing and interacting with their environment. It is the role of the family to buffer stressors that are seen as a threat to the family as a whole. Function, processes, and energy/strength resources comprise the core of the family structure, and must be protected or the family will no longer exist (Kaakinen et al., 2015). Lines of defense are developed naturally when exposed to stressors, and lines of resistance are also naturally developed to aid in the defense of the core elements of the family. Outside of lines of resistance lie normal lines of defense and flexible lines of defense. When these lines are penetrated, the family must utilize it’s defense mechanisms to help mitigate the damage being done by the stressors. When a health issue arises in a family it can threaten to penetrate the lines of resistance, which help to maintain stability. Families differ in their reactions to stressors. Better outcomes come with family experience to these stressors and the defensive mechanisms that are in place. When a stressor penetrates the lines of defense and resistance, a family must work to adapt and restore stability by reconstitution. This process involves health promotion activities and identification of the problem and other factors at the lines of resistance and defense, family coping abilities at the lines of resistance and defense, and restoring the family to it’s normal levels of stability and functioning (Kaakinen et al., 2015). The Family Systems Stressor-Strength Inventory (FS^3I) was developed to help nurses guide families to identify and develop strengths and and new lines of defense to health stressors. This tool is divided into three sections, which include family systems stressor-general, family stressors-specific, and family system strengths (Kaakinen et al., 2015). When using this tool, an assessment of stability, stressors, and strengths is followed by an assessment of specific issues or problems to help identify family strengths and help identify potential or actual problem solving activity (Kaakinen et al., 2015).
Trump Family Interventions Problem: Donald is suffering from narcissistic personality disorder, as is evidenced his grandiose distortions of reality, fragile self esteem, lack of ability to handle criticism, and heightened sense of entitlement. Donald often feels that he is bullied by news networks and responds with unfiltered Twitter rants that are often centered around his sense of unmatched brilliance and power.
Interventions 1.
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While interacting with Donald, remain neutral and avoid power struggles. Do not become defensive when the patient has disparaging remarks and display self-confidence at all times (Varcarolis, 2015) Convey an accepting attitude towards the client. This will help gain the client’s trust and create a non-threatening environment. Encourage the client to examine their behaviors because he may not be aware of his pattern of interaction with others. Recognition is essential for change to occur (Townsend, 2015) Utilize the patient’s sense of self-awareness and reflective abilities to help him identify potential sources of narcissistic behaviors to help identify patterns (Kealy et al., 2017)
Outcomes 1.
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By the end of treatment, the client will interact appropriately toward others as is evidenced by the discontinuation of grandiose and narcissistic behaviors (i.e. power struggles and demeaning comments). Within 5 days of therapy, the client will discuss behaviors with the nurse that impede the development of relationships with others that he considers satisfactory. By the end of treatment, the client will demonstrate an understanding of precipitating factors related to narcissistic behaviors as will be evidenced by openly discussing feelings of anger and rage that have been internalized. By the end of treatment, the client will display a high sense of self-confidence as is evidenced by a lack of desire for attention and fantasies of higher than usual self-worth.
References Kaakinen, J. R., Coehlo, D. P., Steele, R., & Robinson, M. (2015). Family health care nursing: theory, practice, and research(5th ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company. Kealy, D., Goodman, G., Rasmussen, B., Weideman, R., Ogrodniczuk, J., & Widiger, Thomas A. (2017). Therapists’ Perspectives on Optimal Treatment for Pathological Narcissism. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 8(1), 35-45. Townsend, M. C. (2015). Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Concepts Of Care in Mental Health Nursing(8th ed.). F A Davis Co. Varcarolis, E. M., & Varcarolis, E. M. (2015). Manual of psychiatric nursing care planning: assessment guides, diagnoses, psychopharmacology. St. Louis: Saunders Elsevier. Untitled Donald Jr. and Vanessa [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/05/donald-trump-jr-and-wife-vanessa-exp ecting-baby-4/ Untitled Donald With Good Looking Quote [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/188869778102046231/ Untitled Donald With Shooting Quote [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: http://www.shrinktank.com/understanding-donald-trumps-narcissism/ Untitled Eric Trump [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Trump
References Untitled Jared and Ivanka [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://www.refinery29.com/2017/04/151416/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-gossip-girl Untitled Kushner CNN Press Conference [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: http://www.patdollard.com/watch-jared-kushner-makes-statement-outside-wh-after-se nate-testimony-on-russia-conspiracy-theory/ Untitled Kushner Security Clearance [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://www.msnbc.com/katy-tur/watch/with-kushner-s-security-clearance-revoked-ho w-long-will-he-have-a-job-in-the-west-wing-1173039683731 Untitled Money Tree Background Image [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: http://permacultureconvergence.com.webserver.vera.asdf456.com/wp-content/upload s/2016/08/lampa.png Untitled Presidential Seal [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_the_President_of_the_United_State s.svg Untitled Trump Family [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/07/18/meet-the-trump-family-hala-gorani-pk g.cnn Untitled Trump Family Tree [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved From: https://www.vox.com/2016/7/19/12230324/trump-family-tree-tiffany