Family Work Skills

This subject is a post graduate and professional level of study, run in a block teaching session over five days face to face, at The Bouverie Centre in Melbourne, as well as other locations as negotiated. In this subject you will learn some basic useful family therapy theoretical concepts but the emphasis will be on acquiring skill in interviewing families, i.e. more than one person and more than one generation at the same time. You will acquire skill in deciding who to include in sessions and then how to collaborate with the family to develop a focus for the work. Experiential methods, especially role play, will be used to teach specific techniques for managing family interactions, especially promoting a sense of safety and respectful engagement with the therapist and with each other and also managing difference and conflict. Attention will be paid to cultural and other forms of diversity.

Objectives

 * 1) Integrate a range of family therapy concepts to conduct an effective initial family therapy session
 * 2) Synthesise essential engagement skills for working with more than one person at a time.
 * 3) Track interactional sequences and patterns (verbally and observationally)
 * 4) Demonstrate curiosity, circular and triadic questioning
 * 5) Construct genograms, following family themes and asking about the wider context
 * 6) Manage challenging interactions between family members

Assignments

 * 1) Maintain a practice journal over two weeks on how you have applied x skills and concepts in your workplace.
 * 2) 1 x 10 minute group (equiv 1500 words) video presentation of a particular family therapy skill
 * 3) Achievement of at least beginning level on a range of family work techniques as demonstrated in a supervised role-play. (equiv 500 words )
 * 4) 1 x 2000 Reflection on role-play demonstration following feedback

Topics and activities

 * Readings and lectures on the three Cs (circularity, context and constraints) and key concepts from Structural family therapy and Solution-Focused therapy.
 * Activities and assignments that connect your work to public information such as video demonstrations of role play and practical skills, discussion forums.
 * Readings and lectures on non-problem talk, multi-directed partiality, empathy, obtaining everyone's perspective, developing goals.
 * Activities and assignments that connect your work to public information such as video demonstrations of role play and practical skills, discussion forums.
 * Activities and assignments that connect your work to public information such as video demonstrations of role play and practical skills, discussion forums.
 * Activities and assignments that connect your work to public information such as video demonstrations of role play and practical skills, discussion forums.
 * Activities and assignments that connect your work to public information such as video demonstrations of role play and practical skills, discussion forums.
 * Readings and lectures on managing blame and conflict, coaching, strength-based questioning, narrative questioning, and questioning to elicit softer emotions.
 * Activities and assignments that connect your work to public information such as video demonstrations of role play and practical skills, discussion forums.