PADDLI NG I N THE SAME DI RECTI ON Dr Cathy Bettman Gehart (2014, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

PADDLI NG I N THE SAME DI RECTI ON Dr Cathy Bettman

Gehart (2014, p. 135), Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy  Just as in m arriage, in w hich a com m itm ent to one person entails a com m itm ent to an entire fam ily, once you decide to com m it to a theory, you are also com m itting to the broader philosophy that is the theory’s foundation.  I believe therapists w ho are clear about their philosophy of w hat it m eans to be hum an ( ontology) and how people learn and change ( epistem ology) are best positioned to handle the variety of problem s w ith w hich skilled therapists m ust learn to w ork.  Once you com m it yourself to a theory and philosophical stance, it ironically becom es m uch easier to dance w ith others . acap.edu.au navitas.com

Bertrando (2007), The Dialogical Therapist: Dialogue in Systemic Practice Bertrando ( 2 0 0 7 ) contends that theoretical purism is a m yth and that anyone w orking in the counselling field undergoes innum erable influences throughout their personal and professional lives. An epigenetic m odel  The idea of substitution being im possible  Every change in theory or practice connects up w ith those experiences that have proven them selves useful  Not a sim ple linear process of accum ulating new ideas over tim e, but rather … a system of concepts and of experiences recursively connected and in continual evolution acap.edu.au navitas.com

Still Bertrando (2007)  I n our w ork w e find inspiration in the m eaningful voices to w hich w e have been exposed during our professional career  I n accordance w ith our epigenetic view , w e integrate w ithin our m ore recent version of the system ic m odel, the theories learned in the past and all the m eaningful ‘voices’ professional or sim ply hum an) that inspire us in our daily practice and life. acap.edu.au navitas.com

My inspiration - briefly  Lifeline and Carl Rogers  Empathy, Unconditional Positive Regard and Congruence  Not much about the Actualizing Tendency, the Organismic Valuing Process or Conditions of Worth or External Locus of Evaluation acap.edu.au navitas.com

And then:  Relationships Australia (NSW) in the glorious 90’s  Post – Milan – with emphasis on the Post!  From Milan:  Moving away from pathology  The importance of context  Circular causality as against lineal  Behaviour having a function – and being positively connoted acap.edu.au navitas.com

 Curiosity  Neutrality  Hypothesising  The art of curious questions  The idea of the therapist as a participant in the therapeutic system  Perturbation and re-organisation Just by the way, there was still very much an element of strategic expertise, hierarchy, the therapist as content expert, intervener and privileged meta-knower (Anderson, 1997, 4) acap.edu.au navitas.com

And then the Post! Acknowledging Gehart (2014, pp 138-139)  Social Constructionist ideas  Reality  Objectivity is not possible  Knowledge and truth constructed within and between people – culturally, historically and relationally bound  Truth and reality constructed by language and relationships  Language and w ords describe m eaning but also m ake m eaning  Language is generative, gives order and meaning to our lives and our world, and functions as a form of social participation (Anderson, 2007, 3)  Societal and political influences – dominant discourses acap.edu.au navitas.com

And the Post grew! Learning different languages  Solution Focused  Questions as taps on the shoulder  Narrative  The work of Harlene Anderson and Harry Goolishian – Conversation, language and Possibilities (1997)  Paolo Bertrando – the Dialogical Therapist – “Someone whose therapy is guided by the use of systemic hypotheses but who also works in a more collaborative manner, in dialogue, to produce a hypothesis actively created by both therapist and clients”  Open Dialogue – Jaakko Seikkula (Finland) acap.edu.au navitas.com

In the words of Anderson (2007, 4) where it has led me epigenetically  A system contextually based and a product of social communication  We are a system of individuals who are in a relationship through language  A philosophical stance inviting a collaborative relationship and process  A collaborative partnership between people with different perspectives and expertise acap.edu.au navitas.com

 The therapist as a not-knower in a being- informed position – the therapist is uncertain and regards knowledge as evolving  A therapist as an expert in creating a dialogical space and facilitating a dialogical process  A focus on generating possibilities and relying on the contributions and creativity of all participants acap.edu.au navitas.com

 A shared inquiry that relies on the expertise of all persons participating in a conversation  A therapist who is public about, shares, and reflects on his or her knowledge, assumptions, thoughts, questions, and opinions  Change – as evolving through and the natural consequence of a generative dialogue and collaborative relationship  A therapist and a client as co-investigators who participate in creating what they “find”. acap.edu.au navitas.com

Case Study acap.edu.au navitas.com