FTHY602 - Practices and Processes of Family and Systemic Therapy 1

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

The field of family and systemic therapy has developed a broad range of process-recognition and process-descriptions skills, and linked these with conversational-practices and intervention, which psychotherapy research is increasingly demonstrating are a means of generating change in the treatment of individuals, dyads, couples, families and other relational systems. To deliver this complex array of processes and practice you will need to undertake a sequenced introduction and overview. This unit provides a beginning stage that is focused on the exposing you to the broad array of foundational competencies that underpin quality of practice in the delivery of Family and Systemic Therapy. You will learn to recognise and describe current and trans-generation systemic processes, and begin to systematically develop your skills in delivering generative reflections in response to such processes in families and other relational systems. The unit also provides you with entry level practical skills of conducting generative conversations which trigger change and contribute to you becoming effective in using family and systemic practices. You need to begin your development with an entry level sequenced series of experiential, reflective activities which build the ethical and foundational Family and Systemic Therapy (FST) competencies in managing processes and practices.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Describe and reflect on the use of open-dialogue, balanced alliance and interventive interviewing methods associated with the theoretical frameworks from the different models of family and systemic therapy, (GA4, GA5, GA8) 

LO2 - Describe and reflect on systemic processes, in your tutorial-team, in your family of origin and in case examples, using the concepts of family and systemic therapy, (GA1, GA5, GA8) 

LO3 - Construct generative reflections on systemic processes in the tutorial-team and in role-play and in your client work, using the concepts and practices of Family and Systemic Therapy. (GA4, GA5, GA7)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

Content

Topics will include:

• Reflection, self-reflection and open-dialogue.
• Family of origin, and exploring the impact of birth order, family structure, and family rules.
• Exploring the multi-generational themes of family history.
• Exploring actual loss and anticipated loss of family resources, and the creation of secrets, alliances, and coalitions in families
• Family & systemic engagement skills
• Balanced alliance: The SOFTA
• Seeing and experiencing the relational spaces in different family systems
• Family & systemic treatment planning

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Since all relational systems generate systemic dynamics which can be regarded as an analogue of family system dynamics, this unit provides a lecturer guided and structured exploration of these phenomenon. This allows for a unique learning opportunity, which family therapists-lecturers utilise and introduce you to noticing, describing and learning the fundamentals of FST conversational and interventive skills, as well as deepening your understanding about your current skills and your contribution to generative and productive systemic processes. This unit involves 35 hours of small group learning, delivered in intensive mode of 2-3 day workshops where you form a stable tutorial-team of 5-6 members. You are introduced to practices of open-dialogue and a variety of forms of interventive interviewing. This unit is delivered concurrently with FTHY600 Concepts and Models of Family and Systemic Therapy 1, which provides the concepts, constructs and descriptive language to generate a reflexive acquisition, integration and performance of new conceptual and procedural learning. Each member of the tutorial-team contributes to the learning content by exploring their family of origin, as well as reflecting on the systemic tasks and relational dynamics. As a member of this learning-relational system you will develop your process-recognition and process-description skills, as well as contributing to the systemic-learning of other members of your team. You will formally discuss and set up individual learning contracts, and make an agreement about the structure and functioning of your tutorial-team as a collaborative-learning and relational system. You and your team will explore and learn basic systemic practices and about how systemic process unfold within a relational system, at a pace that is respectful and safe. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

The three assessment procedures used in this unit are consistent with University assessment requirements, meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes. Two assessments are graded tasks and one is a hurdle task.

Task 1: Journal Keeping: Personal-Professional Journal, Hurdle

The Journal is a comprehensive record of your thoughts and experiences which you will use in Task 2 & 3.  You need to make this journal an emotionally honest and safe personal recording of your reflections, self-reflections, ideas, feelings, emotional responses which emerge in the course of the interaction in the tutorial team or in role play or while viewing a video recording of a family session. This journal builds your capacity for generative and precise reflection and open-dialogue as an acquired tertiary skill. By recording and discussing with your lecturers and tutorial team your observations and emotional responses you develop your capacity to manage your emotional reactions and improve flexibility, manage anxiety and improve your emotional self-regulation. The journal keeping task contributes to improving your cognitive-relational functioning, developing your capacity to manage your attentional and memory process, so that you can notice and recall sequences of interaction and place your attention on important relational episodes. This task also builds your confidence in your unique personal knowledge, your capacity to share your expertise and skills in collaborative engagement in systemic process. This task has been found to facilitate development of the complex constellation of cognitive–affective skills which underpin development of automaticity of therapeutic responses, and sound clinical decision-making in the heat of the moment.

Task 2: Oral Presentation with PowerPoint, of learning from participation in tutorial team dynamics, ungraded with Feedback, Ungraded with feedback

In this task you are introduced to constructing a systemic conceptualisation and formulation in the collaborative learning relational system, both of which are fundamental FST competencies. This task requires you to draw a link between day-to-day phenomena, and appropriately and succinctly use FST concepts and language-practices, to describe ‘what’s there’ and how you and others respond to a particular experience. This task provides you with authentic practice of these FST competencies. By producing a coherent and succinct narrative of your experience and your perspective on how you are facing the dilemmas and challenges of integrating the relational language of FST into your practices, you are generating a systemic formulation. The act of sharing your understanding, which is an analogue for systemic formulation, within the larger group, provides you with both additional practice and valuable feedback. This task allows you to practice and genuinely build your confidence in having a voice in the group, and as an analogue of one of the core processes of FST, generates change in you, contributes to the richness of learning for your colleagues and can be directly translated to your work with families.

Task 3: Oral presentation with PowerPoint, of learning about family of origin and how it impacts on clinical skills, Ungraded with feedback

In this task you are introduced to constructing a systemic conceptualisation and formulation about your experience in your family of origin, and reporting it to a supportive collaborative learning relational system. These are fundamental FST competencies. This task requires you to draw a link between how you functioned and adapted in your day-to-day life in your family as a child, and adolescent and adult, and how you are responding to your clients and functioning as a professional. Drawing a link between your past experience and current functioning, and phenomena that you find anxiety provoking, challenging, or expose your ‘biases’ and ‘blind-spots’. You need to know about these in order to be effective in using FST practices. Appropriately and succinctly naming these ‘blind-spots’ and ‘biases’ using the FST concepts and language-practices, allows you to generate ‘self-compassion’, free yourself from shame, embarrassment and anxiety, and improves your capacity to describe, with ease and honesty ‘what’s there’ and how you and others respond to a particular experience. This task provides you with a deep and authentic practice of these FST competencies. By producing a coherent and succinct narrative of your experience and your perspective on how you are facing the dilemmas and challenges of integrating the relational language of FST into your practices, you are elaborating on your authentic and generative systemic formulation. This task allows you to practice and genuinely build your confidence in having a voice in the group, and as an analogue of one of the core processes of FST, generates change in yourself, and contributes to the richness of learning for the entire learning relation system. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Anderson, T. (1987). Reflecting Team: Dialogue and Meta-dialogue in clinical work, Family Process, 26, 4: 415-427.

Gerhart, D., (2014) Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy: A Practical Approach to Theory and Clinical Case Documentation 2nd Ed, Belmont, CA, Brooks/Cole.

Holmes, S. & Cantwell, P. (1994). Social construction: A paradigm shift for systemic therapy and training. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 15(1).

Cantwell, P. & Holmes, S. (2004). 'Cumulative process', Journal of Systemic Therapies, 15, 123-129.

Lipchik, E. (2002). Beyond technique in solution focused therapy. Guilford, New York

Seikkula, J. & Trimble, D. 2005, Healing Elements of Therapeutic Conversation: Dialogue as an Embodiment of Love, Family Process, Vol 44, December, 461–475.