Second commentary on integrating family therapy training in a clinical psychology course

Abstract

[Extract] I'd like to tell a story. A true story. Though I have changed some details and times for anonymity, exaggerated some aspects to emphasise a point, and generally taken the license of the story-teller to be a poet. Forgive me, gentle reader.

This happened six, maybe seven years ago. It may not have been the first year that I was teaching family therapy in the clinical psychology program where I am but it was certainly no more than the second year. So far as I know I was the first clinical psychologist in the program with an interest in family therapy and some experience as well. So, I think it’s safe to assume that the program did not have formal teaching of family therapy concepts or approaches until I came along, 7 years ago. The family therapy subject is taught in the second year of the Master/Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. From the second year of my involvement with the program I have arranged the teaching of it as 2 x 3-day workshops (for a total of 39 contact teaching hours) in the second semester and a range of set readings on the history, theory and philosophy of family therapy, as well as readings in child psychopathology. It has continued with this teaching format and content for the last 6 years.