Training Family Therapists for Working in the Schools (original) (raw)

Family therapy training: Current issues, future trends

International Journal of Family Therapy, 1982

This article extends the previous literature review of the family therapy training and supervision field (Liddle & Halpin, 1978) by organizing and discussing some of the dimensions most relevant to family therapy teachers. The five domains of focus include: (1) Personnel: who should teach and be taught family therapy? (2) Content and skills: what should be taught? (3) Methodology: how should the content and skills be taught? (4) Context: how do the setting and the training enterprise influence each other? (5) Evaluation: how should training be assessed? Finally, the article brings into focus several key aspects of family therapy training likely to have relevance for current and future trainers. The family therapy field is enjoying its most rapid period of expansion. Training opportunities have increased dramatically over the past decade as the field has become an international phenomenon. The increase in European and other worldwide training sites has been surpassed only by the proliferation of independent family institutes in the United States (Framo, 1976). Universities have also become involved in the business of family Parts of this paper were presented at the Inaugural Meeting of the American Family Therapy Association, April 1979, Chicago, Illinois. The author wishes to acknowledge the helpful comments of George Saba, Doug Breunlin and Dick Schwartz on a previous draft of this paper.

Teaching Family Therapy: A Program Based on Training Objectives

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 1981

This paperpresents a set of specik training objectives which constitute a base for a one-year clinical training program at the Institute for Juvenile Research in Chicago. The training objectives include three categories of skills: observational, conceptual, and therapeutic. The training objectives and the program in which they are implemented are described. As the field of family therapy has become more sophisticated, therapists and trainers have begun to articulate the skills underpinning effective family therapy. Cleghorn and Levin (1973), Allred and Kersey (19771, Garrigan and Bambrick (1977) and lbmm and Wright (1979) all presented detailed outlines of therapist skills as taught in their respective settings, but the implementation of these skills within the context of their settings is discussed only superficially. This paper presents a specific set of training objectives for family therapy and describes their implementation within the context of a clinical training program. First, the background and evolution of the program is given, followed by descriptions of the training objectives, and the program in which they are implemented. A perspective on the use of training objectives, stressing the advantages and limitations of behavioral objectives for basic training in family therapy, is discussed. Finally, some considerations of program outcome and evaluation are presented. Background of Program The Intensive Family Therapy Program (IF") is a one year, one day-a-week clinical training program. It is sponsored through the Family Systems Program (FSP), which is a training unit of the Institute for Juvenile Research, an agency of the Illinois Department of Mental Health. The IFTP was initiated by Irving Borstein, PhD, in 1974 in response to a growing number of professionals who sought training in family therapy because they had come to view it as their preferred orientation.'

Issues in Training Marriage and Family Therapists

1982

Within the past decade, the field of marriage and family therapy has mushroomed. As a new and emerging professional specialization, marriage and family therapy is subject to control struggles as well as the proliferati,3n of training modalities. This monograph, written for counselor education faculty, students, and family therapists, provides literature on select areas of marriage and family therapy (i.e., systems issues; training and supervision; and alternative family lifestyles) as they pertain to counselor education. The section on systems issues explores four aspects of program implementation: curricula and program development; accreditation requirements for the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT); integration of marriage and family therapy into counselor education; and gender issues of family systems therapists. The section on training and supervision focuses on clinical training in family psychology and supervision from four perspectives: collegial process; a review of current practice; supervisee's perspective on live supervision; and the reflections of a supervisor. The alternative family lifestyles section addresses the training of divorce counselors and single parent family counseling. A list of references follows each article.

Training for Family Therapy

Family Process, 1969

In our program of training in Family Therapy in the clinical psychiatric units affiliated with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, our trainees come from almost all professional groups connected with the Psychiatry Department of the Medical Schoolresidents, fellows, child psychiatry fellows, social workers, psychologists and nurses. Some are trainees, others have staff positions. Our program has evolved over the past seven years and currently we offer three levels of training: Level I teaches concepts of family process and basic skills of family interviewing; Level II trains people to practice family therapy; and Level III trains teachers and supervisors of family therapy, with optional research experience. The main body of this paper is a detailed description of our Level II program and an elaboration of the basic assumptions underlying all of our training programs.

The Family and School Partnership Program: A Framework for Professional Development

One of the persistent and pressing challenges in school social work involves how the field can best provide postmaster’s support and training to school social workers. Numerous scholars have noted the need for context-specific and relevant training for school social workers (Astor, Behre, Wallace, & Fravil, 1998; Franklin, 2001). Recent survey research indicates that school social workers are often pulled away from their desire to be more involved in prevention and leadership work in their schools due to large caseloads, crisis intervention demands, and heavy paperwork (Kelly, Raines, Stone, & Frey, 2010). Finally, despite the recognition that these practitioners want and need to become more evidence informed in their selection and implementation of interventions, little support and few practical tools exist to aid school social workers in their quest to become more versed in the basic tenets of evidence-based practice (EBP) (Kelly, 2008). This article offers a description of how a program founded in Chicago by school social work practitioners in the 1990s has evolved over the years in an attempt to address these gaps in postmaster’s training for school-based mental health professionals (SBMHPs).

Promoting Health and Well-Being of Students in a Marriage and Family Therapy Program: A Study of the Development and Utilization of Therapy Services for Future Therapists

Contemporary Family Therapy

A model program for providing therapy services for graduate marriage and family therapy students is presented. The utilization of therapy services by MFT students in the COAMFTE-approved Masters in Family Therapy Program of the Mercer University School of Medicine was evaluated. A survey assessing utilization of therapy services was administered. The survey evaluated student therapy utilization as correlated with multiple demographic variables. Descriptive data of the survey results are presented. Statistical treatment of the data indicated one significant correlation—the utilization of therapy services by MFT students increased significantly with the amount of time spent in the program, especially increasing at or around the time that clinical practicum experiences were begun. Recommendations for providing therapy services for graduate MFT students and for further studies on this issue are made.

School-Based Family Counseling: Overview, trends, and recommendations for future research

This paper broadly surveys the School-Based Family Counseling (SBFC) literature from its beginnings in Adler's guidance clinics in the 1920's to the present day. Although the current literature is mainly descriptive and Amerocentric in nature, it reveals a growing support for SBFC across mental health disciplines. Challenges include a need for more evidence-based research, cross-cultural research, and evaluation of different SBFC models and training approaches. Several recommendations for strengthening the SBFC field are made.

Evaluation of a Family Therapy Training Program

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 1983

This paper describes the evaluation of a training program designed to impart family therapy skills to 24 social workers on the staff of a large metropolitan "family service" agency. While its impact somewhat surpassed initial expectations, the need for reliable instruments capable of measuring change in trainees' perceptual and executive skills, is noted. It begins with a brief description of the training program.