Raymond M. Bergner's webpage

This a course for clinical practitioners in training who will be called upon to do therapy with couples, families, and individuals whose problems are interpersonal in nature. Accordingly, its emphasis is highly practical and includes the following three goals:

(1) The first goal is to help students acquire diagnostic concepts. On the premise that you cannot even observe what you have no concepts for, students will become familiar with the broad array of interpersonal patterns (vicious cycles, interpersonal balances, etc.) that are the stock in trade of the family therapist. Diagnostic concepts such as triangulation, parentification, differentiation, and overfunction-underfunction, which are quite different than those employed by the individual therapist, will provide "lenses" through which students will learn to view interactional patterns.

(2) Secondly, techniques of family therapy will be studied, relying heavily on videotaped family therapy sessions done by such notables as Salvador Minuchin, Murray Bowen, John Weakland, Insoo Berg, and others. In-class study of these tapes will focus on observing what these therapists do, what the rationales for their actions might be in the contexts in which they occur, what alternative interventions might have been implemented, and critical analysis of the approaches taken.

(3) Finally, numerous in-class therapy simulations will be done to initiate the student into active practice at family therapy thinking and intervening.

TOPICS, TEXTS, AND READINGS:

1. The Family Systems Perspective and Structural Family Therapy.

Colapinto, J. (2000). Structural family therapy. In A. Horne (Ed.), Family

counseling and therapy (3d Ed.). Itasca, IL: Peacock. Available

on Milner Course Reserves (eReserve).

Quiz: January 22. Take home test handed out Feb 5, due Feb 12.

2. Bowen Family Therapy.

Lerner, H. (1989). The Dance of Intimacy. New York: Harper and Row.

Quiz: Feb 19; test handed out March 5, due March 19.

3. The Mental Research Institute's Brief Family Therapy.

Segal, L. (1991). Brief Family Therapy. In A. Horne & J. Passmore (eds).

Family Counseling and Therapy. Itasca, IL: Peacock. Available

on Milner Course eReserves.

Bergner, R. (1993). Victims into perpetrators. Psychotherapy,

30, 452-462. Available on Milner Course eReserves.

Quiz March 26; Test handed out April 2, due April 9.

4. Solution-focussed Therapy.

O'Hanlon, W., & Weiner-Davis, M. (2003). In Search of Solutions (2d ed.)

New York: Norton.

Quiz April 16, test given out April 23, due April 30.

EVALUATIONS:

1. QUIZZES. There will be 4 quizzes, each worth 25 points. You are expected and required to read about each approach before we discuss it in class. Prior to each approach discussed, there will be a 10 item multiple choice quiz on the reading.

2. EXAMS: There will be 4 exams, each of which will be worth 100 points. These are take-home in nature, and the dates for their submission will be announced in class.

They are to be typewritten and organized clearly with the use of headings. The following are all essential considerations in writing your tests.

A. Observe the "Uncle Harry" criterion: All answers should be stated in clear, non-jargonny English. Write your answers for your "Uncle Harry," who's a smart guy but who knows absolutely nothing about family systems so you have to spell it out to him with no assumptions made. For example, if you say, "The central aim of Structural Family Therapy is to alter familial structural patterns," Uncle Harry would have no idea what those were, so you would need to provide a brief clear definition in ordinary English. The best evidence that you understand something is that you can state it correctly and clearly in plain English.

B. Be sure to define terms well and clearly. Related to the Uncle Harrry criterion, failure to define terms has been a very common problem on tests in the past. Asked to define X, students discuss the causes of X, the effects of X, give examples of X, etc., but fail to say what X IS. Consider the following answer to the test item, “Define and discuss the family systems concept of “spiegeling”: Answer: "Spiegeling is caused by inadequate communication between parents. Spiegeling is often found in lower class families who are in poverty. Spiegeling results in developmental arrest on the part of childen, and sometimes in actual psychiatric symptoms. It is important to modify spiegeling patterns because they are so destructive to the entire family system, and in particular to developing children." The failure here to define the term "spiegeling" leaves Uncle Harry (a) not knowing what spiegeling is--and (b) leaves the evaluator of this answer not knowing whether the writer knows the meaning of the term or not.

C. Put first things first--be sure to focus on the question asked first. If you want to go into broad background material, greater detail about the theory, fine, but it's important to answer the question first before moving to less essential matters.

D. The following are some of the kinds of questions to focus on for each

approach:

a. What is the primary thing(s) overall that this school of family therapy

is trying to change? Define in plain English.

b. What is the rationale for why they target this thing as the focus of

change?

c. List 3 specific diagnostic categories they focus on and define each

carefully.

d. What is the basic position of this school on how the therapist should

conduct himself or herself in the therapeutic relationship (e.g., active

or passive? neutral or side-taking? etc.)? Why?

e. List three favored types of interventions (change techniques) and their

rationales.

f. Critically evaluate this approach for better and/or for worse.

Before each approach, I will modify this in any way that is needed to fit the school in question (e.g., solution focussed does not have diagnostic concepts).

3. ATTENDANCE. The contents of this class are critical to your performance as a therapist trying to help clients with their very painful and debilitating problems. It is my experience that they cannot be learned very well by reading alone. They must be discussed, observed, and practiced, all of which we will do during our class periods. Further, since we only meet once a week, each class is essentially the same as 3 regular 50 minute classes. Thus, a 20 point deduction will be taken for any class missed unless a valid excuse is presented in writing or by phone.

4. CLASS PARTICIPATION. Students who participate well and consistently, if they are on the borderline with respect to grade at the end of the semester, will receive favorable consideration for the higher grade. Further, and stating what has always been true but often left unstated, complete failure to participate in a class creates a negative impression within the student's program of that student's ability to function as a professional in a clinical setting.

5. BEING OFF TASK OR MULTI-TASKING DURING CLASS. Any student who is observed doing such things as texting, doing e-mail, conversing with another student, working on other non-class related things in class, or paying no attention will receive a deduction of 10 points. If this occurs, I will notify you immediately.

6. GRADING SCALE:

90 - 100 % (450-500 points) A

80 - 89% (400-449 points) B

70 - 79 % (350-399 points) C

60 - 69% (300-349 points) D

0 - 59% (< 300 points) F