Little has been published regarding the development of therapists during their professional lives (Skovholt & Ronnestad, 1992), or about the individual development of marriage and family therapists (Benningfield & Benningfield, 1992; Simon, 1992). This qualitative research study explored the development of marriage and family therapists (MFTsS) using one-on-one in depth interviews that were videotaped. The purpose was to identify important events and themes in the lives of marriage and family therapists and to identify important theoretical components of MFT development. Eight marriage and family therapists who were graduates of an accredited MFT training program and/or clinical members of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy were interviewed and videotaped. The Videotapes were reviewed and analyzed by the author, using the grounded theory research approach of Strauss and Corbin (1999) as a guide. The author compared reported events and themes to basic developmental concepts outlined by Lerner (1986). The main developmental theme was the integration of the personal and professional selves (labeled synthesis) of the participants. The most important ingredients in the participants’ development seemed to be developmental motivation, resiliency, balance and balancing strategies, and awareness. Continued development was closely associated with continued synthesis, careful monitoring of boundaries, and creative use of developmental motivation. It was the interaction between events, awareness, developmental motivation, and resiliency which produced growth. Information gained from this study may be useful in understanding the self of the therapist within training and supervision, and it may serve as a map of the possible transitions facing a therapist along the journey of development. With this study the author hopes to stimulate interest in additional research on marriage and family therapist development. / Ph. D.

A continuing debate in the family therapy field revolves around the issue of the academic backgrounds of therapists. Is family therapy a separate discipline learned in programs of Marriage and Family Therapy or a discrete set of skills acquired during clinical training in diverse academic and training settings? A survey of 345 student, associate, and clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) was conducted to examine the relationship between their academic backgrounds and their preferences for particular intervention methods and skills. Subjects rated their preferences for 50 therapeutic skills on a revised, self-report form of the Family Therapist Rating Scale (FTRS). When their scores were analyzed across the five scales of the FTRS (Structuring, Relationship, Historical, Structural/Process, and Experiential Behaviors), no significant differences were found across academic backgrounds, age groups, or AAMFT membership status. There was a tendency for the therapists who had more years of clinical experience to show less preference for the more directive skills on the Structural/Process Behaviors Scale. The best discriminator of therapists' choices for intervention methods and skills was their specialized training in specific models of family therapy. / M.S.

Informed by constructivist and social constructionist theory, a qualitative research study was conducted applying Andersen’s (1991) reflecting team model to explore use of self themes in the supervision process. A male and female Supervisor were paired with a male and female therapist to form two person supervision and reflecting teams. Four RTS sessions were conducted. Each RTS session involved three phases: 1) supervision of a case with the reflecting team observing, 2) reflecting team discussion of their observations with the supervision team observing, and 3) supervision follow-up by the supervision team with the reflecting team observing. The three phases of the RTS process led to three derivations of the original therapist story. The RTS process was discussed after each session in the post-session discussion. Utilizing the reflections of the reflecting team from Phase 2, a difference that makes a difference was introduced into the supervision story. In Phase 3, the supervision follow-up, the supervisor helped the therapist explore previously non-conscious use of self themes in the supervision narrative and construct a different narrative about him/herself and the case brought for supervision. The nature of the points of connection established in the socially constructed conversation between the therapist and client(s) was pertinent to the establishment of a "relational distance" between the client and the therapist that was too close or too distant. The supervisor not only helped the therapist become aware of the points of connection but also helped introduce a difference that allowed the therapist to be more maneuverable. All three phases of RTS are important to a supervision process. The role of the reflecting team in uncovering the "unsaid," and the supervisor in creating a difference possibly become less critical as supervisors develop reflexivity and incorporate these two phases into their typical supervision process. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University Dept. of Marriage and Family Therapy, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-64).

No description available.

When school-based behavior problems are not solvable in short-term school counseling, referrals are often made to community therapists. The school-based referral process is described in the literature as an informal process aimed at matching clients' needs with therapist skills but the literature also suggests that the referral process is based even more so on the relationship of the school counselor to the therapist. A survey of 19 school counselors was conducted to measure the importance of six factors identified in a pilot study that are used in selecting a referral source; Therapist Accessibility, Therapist Commitment to School, Therapist Philosophy and Belief System, Therapist Reputation, and Therapist Credentials. In addition, 19 community-based therapists were surveyed to measure their ranking of these same factors. When the scores were analyzed it was found that school counselors rated two scales, Therapist Accessibility and Therapist Reputation, significantly higher than did therapists. Surprisingly, Therapist Reputation was rated least important by both groups. This research has the potential to help strengthen the engagement between the school system and the mental health system by first identifying the factors used for school-based referrals and then identifying the differences in how the two systems perceive the importance of these factors. / Master of Science

This essay is about family therapists who, on behalf of social services, providesupport to children and adolescents with significant school absenteeism. Theinterviewees in the study describe their work with the target group, the reasonsthey believe contribute to school absenteeism, the methods and approaches theyuse in their work, as well as the challenges and opportunities they see in workingwith these young people. The study shows that family therapists assess the youthand their home and school situations in order to deeply understand how to proceedwith individual treatment. Often, neurodevelopmental diagnoses are part of theadolescents' profile of problems. Students with significant school absenteeism area group who would like to attend school but feel they cannot, for various reasons.Family therapists use a variety of approaches in treatment and wish for morecohesive method materials on how to approach social work with adolescents withsignificant school absenteeism.

No description available.

Den här kvalitativa studien syftar till att undersöka familjebehandlares föreställningar gällande fäder med kriminell bakgrund i behandlande insatser. Studiens resultat bygger på fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med familjebehandlare verksamma inom en kommun i Mellansverige. Det insamlade materialet har bearbetats utifrån en tematisk analysmetod. Tolkning och analys av resultatet har gjorts utifrån rollteori och hegemonisk maskulinitet. Resultatet visade att kriminalitetens art hos fäderna har betydelse för familjebehandlarnas föreställningar. Samtidigt visar resultatet att barnets bästa alltid går i första hand i familjebehandlande insatser, oberoende av kriminalitetens art. Resultatet visar även att familjebehandlarna tenderar att se fadern i sin roll som förälder och därmed se hans kriminella roll som sekundär. Ändå finns det en tydlig syn hos familjebehandlarna på hur en fader med kriminell bakgrund förväntas vara. Studiens slutsatser är att familjebehandlarna beträder olika roller beroende på situation och att rollen har betydelse. Förväntningar finns på såväl familjebehandlares föreställningar som fäders beteende i de behandlande insatserna. För att få till ett bättre möte behöver familjebehandlarna se komplexiteten i fäderna med kriminell bakgrunds multipla roller. / This qualitative study aims to examine family therapists' views ​​regarding fathers with a criminal background in treatment interventions. The results of the study are based on five semi-structured interviews with family therapists active in a municipality in central Sweden. The collected material has been processed based on a thematic analysis method. Interpretation and analysis of the result has been made on the basis of role theory and hegemonic masculinity. The results showed that the nature of crime among fathers is important for the views of family therapists. At the same time, the results show that the child's best interests always come first in family treatment interventions, regardless of the nature of the crime. The results also show that family therapists tend to see the father in his role as a parent and thus see his criminal role as secondary. Nevertheless, there is a clear view among family therapists of what a father with a criminal background is expected to be. The study's conclusions are that family therapists take on different roles depending on the situation and that the role is important. There are expectations of both family therapists views and fathers behavior in the treatment interventions. In order to have a better meeting, the family therapists need to see the complexity of the fathers with multiple roles of criminal background.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka hur familjebehandlare i socialtjänsten beskriver de kunskapsmässiga förutsättningarna i arbetet avseende neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning [NPF] samt att fördjupa förståelsen för hur detta upplevs kunna få betydelse för ett preventivt arbete gentemot föräldrar vars barn har en NPF-diagnos. Studien genomfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex familjebehandlare inom socialtjänsten i fem mindre kommuner i Västra Götaland. Teori om systemteorin och begrepp om kunskap, makt och handlingsutrymme användes för att fördjupa förståelsen för det insamlade materialet. En tematisk analys valdes för att analysera materialet. Resultatet visade att familjebehandlarnas kunskaper om NPF upplevdes bero på den enskildes intresse och erfarenheter av ämnet.  Det framkom att familjebehandlarna inte hade fått någon formell utbildning om NPF varken under den akademiska utbildningen eller av arbetsgivaren. Resultatet visade även att det fanns motsägelser kring vilka kunskaper familjebehandlarna borde besitta och vad förebyggande arbete innebär. Familjebehandlarna beskrev att det preventiva familjearbetet påverkades av kunskaper om NPF, de beskrev att kunskapen om NPF bör vara specialiserad för att kunna arbeta preventivt. De beskrev samtidigt att det preventiva familjearbetet var oberoende av den enskilde familjebehandlarens kunskapsnivå eftersom de möter varje individ utifrån enskilda behov. Familjebehandlarnas uppfattningar om vad som tillhörde deras yrkesroll påverkade deras behov av att vilja ha specialiserade kunskaper. Slutsatsen var att det finns ett behov av preventivt arbete och kunskapsutveckling om NPF eftersom familjebehandlare möter en omfattande mängd av föräldrar vars barn har en NPF-diagnos. En kompetensutveckling skulle kunna medföra en stabilare kunskapsbas hos familjebehandlare, som dessutom skulle kunna leda till en utveckling av det preventiva familjearbetet inom socialtjänsten. En stabilare kunskapsbas skulle även kunna bidra till bättre och effektivare stöd för familjer. / The purpose of the essay was to examine how family therapists in social services describe the knowledge prerequisites in their work regarding neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), and to deepen the understanding of how this might be relevant for preventive work with parents whose children have an NDD diagnosis. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with six family therapists within social services in five smaller municipalities in Västra Götaland. Theory on systems theory and concepts of knowledge, power, and agency were employed to deepen the understanding of the collected material. A thematic analysis was chosen to analyze the material. The results showed that family therapists' knowledge of NDD was perceived to depend on the individual's interest and experiences in the subject. It emerged that family therapists had not received any formal training on NDD either during their academic education or from their employer. The results also showed contradictions regarding which knowledge family therapists should possess and what preventive work entails. Family therapists described that preventive work was influenced by knowledge of NDD, expressing that knowledge about NDD should be specialized to work preventively. They also described that preventive work was independent of the individual family therapist's level of knowledge because they meet each individual based on individual needs. Family therapists' perceptions of what belonged to the professional role influenced their need for specialized knowledge. The conclusion was that there is a need for preventive work and knowledge development regarding NDD, as family therapists encounter a substantial number of parents whose children have an NDD diagnosis. Competence development could lead to a more stable knowledge base among family therapists, which could also lead to the development of preventive work within social services. A more stable knowledge base could also contribute to better and more effective support for families.