Deliberate Practice in Systemic Family Therapy

Adrian Blow, PhD, is a Professor and Chair in the Human Development and Family Studies department and a core faculty in the Couple and Family Therapy Program at Michigan State University (MSU). His research focuses on families and trauma, military families, and change processes in systemic family therapy. Dr. Blow was coassociate editor of The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy, Volume 3, which focuses on clinical work with couples. In 2017, he was awarded the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Training Award. He was also the AAMFT Board Secretary (2012–2014) and Board Treasurer (2016–2019).    Ryan Seedall, LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and associate professor at Utah State University (USU) in the department of Human Development and Family Studies. He is the associate director in the marriage and family therapy program at USU. Dr. Seedall has published close to 40 peer-reviewed articles and seven book chapters on topics related to understanding and improving relationship processes (couple and therapeutic) as well as enhancing prevention and intervention efforts. He was also coassociate editor of The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy, Volume 1, which focuses on the profession of systemic family therapy. Debra Miller, PhD, LMSW, is a licensed social worker and clinical researcher on the faculty of Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI, where she serves as the director of the University’s couple and family therapy clinic training program. Her research is centered on supporting systemic family therapists with skill development, particularly as it relates to learning evidence-based approaches to treatment. Since 2012, she has served on the faculty of the Family Therapy Training Institute of Miami, providing training throughout the United States in the brief strategic family therapy model. Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD, is program director of the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program, and executive director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice(APA Books). In 2017, Dr. Rousmaniere published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, “What Your Therapist Doesn’t Know.” Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes clinical outcome data at drtonyr.com. He is president of Division 29 of APA.   Alexandre Vaz, PhD, is director of training at the Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program and Sentio Counseling Center. He has authored many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and is coeditor of the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). Dr. Vaz has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He is founder and host of “Psychotherapy Expert Talks,” an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and researchers.

Series Preface
Tony Rousmaniere and Alexandre Vaz
Acknowledgments

Part I. Overview and Instructions
Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview of Deliberate Practice and Systemic Family Therapy
Chapter 2. Instructions for the Systemic Family Therapy Deliberate Practice Exercises

Part II. Deliberate Practice Exercises for Systemic Family Therapy Skills

Exercises for Beginner Systemic Family Therapy Skills
Exercise 1. Providing a Systemic Rationale for Treatment
Exercise 2. Building the Therapeutic Alliance: Establishing Bonds and Joining the System
Exercise 3. Reframing the Problem
Exercise 4. Interactional Structuring: Deescalation

Exercises for Intermediate Systemic Family Therapy Skills
Exercise 5. Avoiding Triangulation
Exercise 6. Highlighting Boundaries
Exercise 7. Systemic Questions: Fostering Perspective-Taking
Exercise 8. Engendering Hope

Exercises for Advanced Systemic Family Therapy Skills
Exercise 9. Attention to Diversity
Exercise 10. Building the Therapeutic Alliance: Establishing Therapeutic Goals
Exercise 11. Tracking the Interactional Cycle
Exercise 12. Interactional Structuring: Initiating Enactments

Comprehensive Exercises
Exercise 13. Annotated Systemic Family Therapy Practice Session Transcript
Exercise 14. Mock Systemic Family Therapy Sessions

Part III. Strategies for Enhancing the Deliberate Practice Exercises
Chapter 3. How to Get the Most Out of Deliberate Practice: Additional Guidance for Trainers and Trainees

Appendix A. Difficulty Assessments and Adjustments
Appendix B. Deliberate Practice Diary Form
Appendix C. Sample Systemic Family Therapy Syllabus With Embedded Deliberate Practice Exercises
References
Index
About the Authors