Module 1 – Using Genograms in Family Therapy

This module aims to provide participants with a thorough understanding of how to construct and use genograms in assessment and intervention. Genograms are a multigenerational assessment tool for understanding family functioning and family processes.The module consists of 5 self-paced sections and includes video demonstration, practical examples, reflective tasks, readings and a short quiz. The course is suitable for health and welfare professionals who currently or intend to work with families

Module 2 – Family Assessments

This module aims to provide participants with the knowledge required to conduct an initial family therapy interview, a thorough understanding of how to develop a systemic case formulation and when to work with individuals versus whole families. It considers child, adolescent and adult mental health practice.

Module 3 – Structural Family therapy and Solution Focused Brief Therapy

This module provides participants with a solid understanding of both Structural Family Therapy and Solution Focused Based Therapy (SFBT).The aim of the first part of this module is to introduce participants to the basic ideas and practices of structural family therapy such as hierarchies and enmeshment and introduce techniques for working with families in a structural model. The second part of the module is on SFBT where the focus of therapy moves from the problems to describing exceptions and strengths and what clients are achieving in their lives to bring about change. Key ideas and principles are explored including interventions such as questioning techniques; the miracle question and scaling question.

Module 4 – Milan Systemic Therapy

This module describes the Milan approach to systemic family therapy including key ideas and practices like hypothesizing, circularity and neutrality and introduces systemic family interviewing skills and circular questioning.

Module 5 – Bowen Systems Theory and Narrative Therapy

This module provides participants with a solid understanding of both Bowen Family System and Narrative Therapy. Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST) is an intergenerational approach to family therapy that emphasises the importance of a therapist understanding his/her own background when working with families. This online module explores the 8 key concepts of BFST and provides participants with a thorough knowledge of how to apply BSFT with a client or a family. Bowen family systems theory analyses human behaviour viewing the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions within the unit. It explores how a change in one person’s functioning predictably follows reciprocal changes in the functioning of others.  The goal of this module is to enhance your systemic perspective of human relationships applying Bowen theory in clinical work.

Narrative Therapy is a respectful and non-blaming approach to therapy that centers people as experts in their lives. This online module focuses on ways of externalizing the problem, so it seen as a separate from the person. Participants will develop a thorough knowledge of how to apply this model therapy in practice. Narrative therapy has a special relevance and application for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and populations where story-telling is central for defining personal identity. It has also been widely used with persons experiencing serious mental health issues like trauma, violence and abuse, self-harm, eating disorders and hearing voices in psychosis

Module 6 – Contemporary Models of Family Therapy

This module covers four models of therapy providing an overview and the core concepts of how to apply the different approaches when working with clients.

Part 1: Attachment Based Family Therapy (ABFT) reviews of the work of empirically informed family therapy model that is manualised emotion-focused therapy that aims to repair interpersonal ruptures and rebuild secure-based parent-child relationship.

Part 2: Functional Family therapy (FFT) module provides an overview of this short-term intervention (12-15 sessions) that combines systemic therapy and cognitive –behavioural therapy. The five distinct phases of engagement, motivation, relational assessment, behaviour change, and generalization are described with examples of its application given.

Part 3: Multisystemic Therapy (MST) module provides the framework for this problem- focused intervention that incorporates structural family therapy, behavioral parent training and CBT.

Part 4: Open Dialogue approach. This module provides an overview of how to apply this model in practice which involves a consistent family/social network approach to care carried out through meetings involving the patient together with his or her family members and extended social network.