Syyskoulutuspäivä 27.11.2020 klo 10–15 (verkkokoulutus)

Koulutuspäivä järjestetään Zoom-yhteydellä verkkokoulutuksena.

Suomen perheterapiayhdistyksen jäsenille ilmainen, ei-jäsenet 30 €. Ilmoittautumiset 20.11.2020 mennessä anita.birstolin(at)perheterapiayhdistys.fi

Resources in Systemic Family Therapy and Supervision

Essential tools: Use of Language and Power Questions of Masculinity

Dr. Ged Smith is a family therapist of more than 20 years experience and currently works in both CAMHS and Adult Services with two NHS Trusts in the Liverpool area. He has been teaching, supervising and consulting all over the world in this time, and has many articles published in academic journals and Context Systemic Magazine, of which he is a regular contributor and deputy editor. His special interests concern language, power and gender, particularly masculinity and working with men, which was the subject of his Doctoral study. Being from Liverpool he is cliched enough to like football, music and humour, but enjoys his 4 children even more.

Language – Risks and Relationships in Systemic Therapy and Supervision

As a family therapist Dr. Smith is constantly balancing the tension between attempting to facilitate sessions collaboratively and being mindful of his own power on the one hand, while being somewhat directive and having his own agenda on the other. In his work Dr. Smith values the importance of listening and providing the core conditions of warmth, transparency and authenticity. A regular feature of family therapy practise involves however interrupting people while they talk. Interrupting is a necessity in family therapy in order to enable space for other people’s contributions. We stop some voices in order to hear other voices. In Family Therapy terms an interruption can be made to protect others’ speaking rights. The art of therapy is to do it well – to facilitate polyphonic communication. This paradox can be tackled collaboratively.

Dr. Smith will examine the use of language (including in cross-cultural settings where risks can sometimes be amplified) and humour and self while exploring the meanings of identity. He will tell us his own examples in this seminar and says that all relationships contain some elements of risk. The ways in which we create a safe enough context, through the uses of language as well as non-linguistic means, are the crucial elements in our endeavours as supervisors and therapists. Dr. Smith is a systemic practitioner and favours the idea that therapy is more of an art than a science and that this is most exemplified in the graceful use of language by which we strive to engage rather than alienate people.

Working with Men

Dr. Ged Smith invites us to think about how men struggle to know how to act as fathers to their children or carers of their partners or each other, when bombarded with images which privilege control and reason, dominance and achievement. He invites us to consider how we need to change how our societies operate to liberate us all from these patriarchal structures. This part will look at how we can work with men in ways that are more likely to engage than alienate them.

The seminar will suit anyone whether you are a social worker, support worker or therapist, and whether you work in children’s or adults’ services.

Programme

10.00 Opening of the Seminar /President of Finnish Family Therapy Association Juha Metelinen
10.10 Graceful use of Language in Therapy
10.50 Break
11.00 Languare in Systemic Family Therapy continued – And Working with Men
11.45 Lunch break
12.30 Working with Men continued
13.15 Break
13.30 Integration and Discussion
14.45 Closing of the Seminar