Although there is abundant research on the underutilization of mental health services by Asian Americans, there is limited research on the utilization patterns of family counseling services by the Chinese American population. Moreover, there is even less research that examined the perception of Chinese Americans toward family counseling and how that perception affects their utilization of family counseling services. With the intention to explore Chinese Americans' sentiments toward the field of family counseling, this qualitative study investigated what knowledge they had about the profession and how they would feel about seeking counseling services for their relationship problems. Using the guiding theoretical framework of phenomenology, in-depth interviews were conducted with eight individuals and were coded for themes. Findings indicated that Chinese Americans had a need for family counseling but cultural inhibitions about seeking counseling services and concerns such as financial burden and lack of convincing results served as utilization barriers. Implications for clinical practice, including barrier-removal ideas, and suggestions for future research are included. / Master of Science

Little has been published regarding the experiences of seasoned MFTs who not only manage to survive the demands and pressures in the mental health field, but also thrive and find enjoyment in their work. This qualitative study, guided by a phenomenological perspective, provides a rich understanding of the experiences of seasoned MFTs who continue to remain joyous and passionate in their work. Six female peer-nominated therapists, with at least 15 years of clinical experience, from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area participated in semi-structured interviews. Results from the interviews are organized around six themes: Portrait of passionate seasoned therapist; getting renewed by clinical work; managing spillover; sustaining balance; changing commitment to the profession; and advice to novice therapists. The findings are both consistent with, and add to the literature indicating that accumulated experience is a major resource for therapists and sustaining balance through the use of various self-care strategies is vital. Limitations, suggestions for future research, and implications of this study also discussed. / Master of Science

The current models that we use in systemic family therapy came out of office/clinic-based practice. To date, there is no model specifically orientated to systemic family therapy in the home. As a systemic family therapist, I argue that non-traditional approaches may need to be considered; and that systemic family therapy models should come closer to reflecting discourses that have shades of global influences. My interest in the area emerged from a position of ignorance – making assumptions that the tools used in the clinic could easily be colonised into a family’s home – but I found that the models often used in the clinic do not necessarily transfer easily into the home. an adaptation of a systematic review was conducted that undermined the notion that therapists are ‘knowing’ with particular skill and competency to work in the home. I ask the question: How do I improve upon my systemic family therapy practice to work in families’ homes? African oral traditional ideas (AOTI) are broadly explored to consider the notion of self and bodily feelings as a source of knowledge. Through the use of AOTI I created an approach known as Seselelame, foregrounding a new practice stemming from ideas that are not home grown within the systemic family therapy perspectives, to support my practice within the home. the inquiry offers the following contribution of new knowledge to family systemic therapy: conceptualization of a method (Seselelame) that incorporates the idea of self in the context of awareness of feelings in the body; a method that incorporates African oral traditional ideas and thus expanded the traditional Western view of family/systemic therapy; contextualization of the significance of home as a source of knowledge; the Seselelame model was used as an analytical tool alongside a systemic constructionist analytical model to compare and contrast the data produced. The findings conclude that the inquiry has implications for the practice and teaching of systemic family therapy, which will eventually be published once the thesis is completed.

Master of Science / Family Studies and Human Services / Sandra M. Stith / The purpose of this thesis is to learn from human trafficking survivors about how service providers can better help female victims of human trafficking. The paper is guided by two theories, i.e., Attention Restoration Theory (Hartig, Evans, Jamner, Davis, & Galing, 2003) and The Holistic Process Theory of Healing (Ventegodt, Andersen, & Merrick, 2003). In this paper, I refer to the participants in my research as survivors and individuals who have been or currently are victims of human trafficking as victims. To utilize the common language used by the participants of this study, sex trafficking will be referred to as the “sex industry”. The purpose of the study was to gain the perspectives of women in the process of exiting from the sex industry to answer the overarching questions of how service providers can better help women who are on the path to restoration and recovery, as well as to help service providers better identify female victims and their needs. A combined approach of Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis and Gilligan, Spencer, Weinberg and Bertsch’s (n.d.) Listening Guide was used to analyze the transcribed interviews for a better understanding of the narratives of the participants and the themes that emerged from their narratives.

O campo da terapia familiar tem se desenvolvido a partir de diferentes contribuições teóricas e epistemológicas. Um dos desenvolvimentos recentes da terapia familiar tem se dado a partir da emergência do movimento construcionista social em ciência, levando, dentre outras mudanças, a uma maior ênfase nos processos de comunicação no contexto terapêutico. Considerando a crescente utilização das contribuições do construcionismo social pelos profissionais brasileiros envolvidos na prática clínica, consideramos relevante compreender como tem se dado essa transmissão de conhecimentos do campo teórico para o campo clínico. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo qualitativo é investigar a difusão do discurso construcionista social entre um grupo de terapeutas familiares brasileiros, focando em como este se constitui em um aporte útil para sua prática clínica. Foram entrevistados 14 terapeutas familiares, do sexo masculino e feminino, psicólogos, cuja atividade profissional atual envolve o trabalho com famílias, e possuem responsabilidade docente em institutos de formação em terapia familiar. As entrevistas foram gravadas em áudio e transcritas literalmente e na íntegra. A análise das informações foi realizada a partir das propostas construcionistas sociais em ciência. Parte do processo de análise e discussão dos resultados foi realizada em conjunto com a Profa. Sheila McNamee, Ph.D., durante um estágio de pesquisa na Universidade de New Hampshire. Na análise das entrevistas, focamos em dois eixos de discussão. Primeiramente, discutimos o que os participantes descrevem como sendo o construcionismo social, evidenciando as principais ideias e conceitos do construcionismo que norteiam sua prática e seu posicionamento como terapeutas. No segundo eixo, discutimos de forma crítica e reflexiva três maneiras distintas pelas quais os participantes aplicam as ideias construcionistas na prática, enfatizando implicações, possibilidades e limites que advêm deste uso. Ao longo de toda discussão dos resultados, articulamos a análise proposta com aspectos da difusão do construcionismo entre os participantes. Concluímos, a partir deste estudo, que a difusão do construcionismo social está atrelada às formas pelas quais os terapeutas atribuem utilidade aos conceitos teóricos descritos na literatura. Além disso, a sensibilidade ao construcionismo social é um aspecto da prática clínica que oferece diferentes formas dos terapeutas relacionarem-se com as abordagens do campo da terapia familiar, trazendo convites à prática da auto-reflexividade por parte dos terapeutas. (FAPESP) / The field of family therapy has been developed based on different theoretical and epistemological contributions. One of the recently developments of family therapy has taken place based on the contributions of the social constructionist movement in science, leading to an emphasis on the communication processes in the therapeutic context. Considering this increasingly expansion of social constructionists ideas among professionals involved in clinical practice, it is important to know how theoretical knowledge has been incorporated into professional midst. The aim of this study is to investigate dissemination forms of social constructionist discourse among a group of family therapists, focusing on how these ideas are a useful contribution for their clinical practice. We interviewed 14 family therapists, men and women, psychologists, who work with family counseling, and are responsible for teaching social constructionism in family therapy training institutes. All interviews were recorded and literally transcribed. The analysis was carried out based on social constructionisms contributions for research practice. Part of this analysis process was developed in partnership with Professor Sheila McNamee, Ph.D., at the University of New Hampshire, during a research internship. We have divided the meanings made with our participants in two major pillars: Firstly, we discuss the participants definition of social construction, highlighting its main ideas and concepts that guide their clinical practice. Secondly, we critically and reflexively discuss three forms by which our participants apply social constructionism in their practice, emphasizing implications, possibilities and constraints that emerge as a consequence. Throughout these discussions, we articulate our analysis with aspects of dissemination of social constructionisms ideas among the participants. We conclude that the propagation of social constructionists ideas is tied to the utility that family therapists attach to the theoretical contributions of social constructionism. Also, the sensitivity to social constructionisms ideas offers the professionals specific forms by which they can relate to other approaches in family therapy practice. In this sense, this study enhances the importance of self-reflexivity as a quotidian practice of the family therapist. (FAPESP)

This article reviews the presence of family theory in health-care research. First, we demonstrate some disconnect between models of the patient, which tend to focus on the individual, and a large body of research that finds that relationships influence health. We summarize the contributions of family science and medical family therapy and conclude that family science models and measures are generally underutilized. As a result, practitioners do not have access to the rich tool kit of lenses and interventions offered by systems thinking. We propose several possible ways that family scientists can contribute to health-care research, such as using the family as the unit of analysis, exploring theories of the family as they relate to health, and suggesting greater involvement of family scientists in health research.

O campo da terapia familiar tem se desenvolvido a partir de diferentes contribuições teóricas e epistemológicas. Um dos desenvolvimentos recentes da terapia familiar tem se dado a partir da emergência do movimento construcionista social em ciência, levando, dentre outras mudanças, a uma maior ênfase nos processos de comunicação no contexto terapêutico. Considerando a crescente utilização das contribuições do construcionismo social pelos profissionais brasileiros envolvidos na prática clínica, consideramos relevante compreender como tem se dado essa transmissão de conhecimentos do campo teórico para o campo clínico. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo qualitativo é investigar a difusão do discurso construcionista social entre um grupo de terapeutas familiares brasileiros, focando em como este se constitui em um aporte útil para sua prática clínica. Foram entrevistados 14 terapeutas familiares, do sexo masculino e feminino, psicólogos, cuja atividade profissional atual envolve o trabalho com famílias, e possuem responsabilidade docente em institutos de formação em terapia familiar. As entrevistas foram gravadas em áudio e transcritas literalmente e na íntegra. A análise das informações foi realizada a partir das propostas construcionistas sociais em ciência. Parte do processo de análise e discussão dos resultados foi realizada em conjunto com a Profa. Sheila McNamee, Ph.D., durante um estágio de pesquisa na Universidade de New Hampshire. Na análise das entrevistas, focamos em dois eixos de discussão. Primeiramente, discutimos o que os participantes descrevem como sendo o construcionismo social, evidenciando as principais ideias e conceitos do construcionismo que norteiam sua prática e seu posicionamento como terapeutas. No segundo eixo, discutimos de forma crítica e reflexiva três maneiras distintas pelas quais os participantes aplicam as ideias construcionistas na prática, enfatizando implicações, possibilidades e limites que advêm deste uso. Ao longo de toda discussão dos resultados, articulamos a análise proposta com aspectos da difusão do construcionismo entre os participantes. Concluímos, a partir deste estudo, que a difusão do construcionismo social está atrelada às formas pelas quais os terapeutas atribuem utilidade aos conceitos teóricos descritos na literatura. Além disso, a sensibilidade ao construcionismo social é um aspecto da prática clínica que oferece diferentes formas dos terapeutas relacionarem-se com as abordagens do campo da terapia familiar, trazendo convites à prática da auto-reflexividade por parte dos terapeutas. (FAPESP) / The field of family therapy has been developed based on different theoretical and epistemological contributions. One of the recently developments of family therapy has taken place based on the contributions of the social constructionist movement in science, leading to an emphasis on the communication processes in the therapeutic context. Considering this increasingly expansion of social constructionists ideas among professionals involved in clinical practice, it is important to know how theoretical knowledge has been incorporated into professional midst. The aim of this study is to investigate dissemination forms of social constructionist discourse among a group of family therapists, focusing on how these ideas are a useful contribution for their clinical practice. We interviewed 14 family therapists, men and women, psychologists, who work with family counseling, and are responsible for teaching social constructionism in family therapy training institutes. All interviews were recorded and literally transcribed. The analysis was carried out based on social constructionisms contributions for research practice. Part of this analysis process was developed in partnership with Professor Sheila McNamee, Ph.D., at the University of New Hampshire, during a research internship. We have divided the meanings made with our participants in two major pillars: Firstly, we discuss the participants definition of social construction, highlighting its main ideas and concepts that guide their clinical practice. Secondly, we critically and reflexively discuss three forms by which our participants apply social constructionism in their practice, emphasizing implications, possibilities and constraints that emerge as a consequence. Throughout these discussions, we articulate our analysis with aspects of dissemination of social constructionisms ideas among the participants. We conclude that the propagation of social constructionists ideas is tied to the utility that family therapists attach to the theoretical contributions of social constructionism. Also, the sensitivity to social constructionisms ideas offers the professionals specific forms by which they can relate to other approaches in family therapy practice. In this sense, this study enhances the importance of self-reflexivity as a quotidian practice of the family therapist. (FAPESP)

This research study was designed to record and consider lived experiences from marriage and family therapists (MFTs) who have experience with mindfulness as a form of selfcare in sustaining productive professional practices. The primary focus of this project was to understand, through interviews, reports from marriage and family therapists about how they utilize such mindfulness as a form of self-care for their professional practice. This research study has sought insight into whether mindfulness self-care could be helpful in maintaining effective resiliency in professional practice. I used a phenomenological approach, specifically Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) interviewing, to gather reports from participants who identify with practicing mindfulness self-care. This study inquired, among various indicators, about whether or not, in their experience, a select group of family therapists’ professional practice is different, and in what way, when they use mindfulness self-care. This research study has elicited lived experience accounts in interviews to inquire whether these accounts can suggest any benefits, personal or professional, from strategies of mindfulness self-care. In addition to statements that specify benefits these family therapists found for themselves, such as enhanced gratitude for the unique positive qualities in their personal lives, they also indicated a circular benefit in that they were able to better handle the stressors of professional practice and even teach the mindfulness self-care practices that worked for themselves to their clients. These benefits of mindfulness self-care in their professional practice further enhanced their understanding that mindfulness self-care helped fulfill them in their personal lives

The main aim of this dissertation is to identify the importance of utilizing both a behavior analytic lens and systemic thinking lens when working with families with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Currently, the prevalence of ASD is on the rise, which means more families are in need of services. Services are typically available for the individual with ASD or the family; however, it is the researcher’s belief that services delivered utilizing a both/and lens are more impactful. Through the use of transcendental phenomenology, trained behavior analysts and marriage and family therapists were interviewed to gain insight into their experiences working with families with children diagnosed with ASD. Specifically, this dissertation focused on clinicians who implement both lens. The findings of the study revealed three central themes and two subordinate themes: Participants noted boundaries that influence a dual perspective, Participants found it useful to use a dual perspective, Participants noted this is a different approach not shared by others, Participants found it useful to apply ABA and systemic thinking in a specific order, and Participants found a larger systems perspective useful. The experiences of participants were captured through these themes. Their experiences suggest that the utilization of a dual perspective, while challenging, is more beneficial to families with children diagnosed with ASD. This demonstrates a large need for dual perspectives’ training in both ABA and systemic thinking fields.

This is a constructivistic, qualitative single case study of the reflections of a social work post-graduate student in a practical family therapy training situation, to illustrate the integration of person centered and systemic family therapy theory. The element of uncertainty of the therapist, is the focus of this study. The element of uncertainty, being a part of both the therapist and the therapeutic process, especially if challenged to make paradigm shifts and master new theory and skills, is identified, described, redefined and contructively applied. The focus is to highlight the use of the reframed element of uncertainty in empowering the therapist in the therapeutic process of family therapy. It is outlined how uncertainty can also be of value to empower the therapist to evolve an own unique therapeutic style. / Social work / M.A. (Geestesgesondheid)