HU Credits: 4

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Social Work

Semester: Yearly

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Miriam Schiff

Coordinator Email: miriam.schiff@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Wednesday 14:00-15:00

Teaching Staff:
Prof Miriam Schiff

Course/Module description:
The practicum will focus on the treatment of individuals, couples or families based on family system theory of Murray Bowen and Mona Fishbane- healing the intergenerational wounds. These approaches see a problem of an individual or of the entire family from an inter-generational perspective and find a place to see the source of the problem and its progression in the previous generations. Also, the approaches believe that in each family member there is a fundamental tension between the need for relatedness and the counter need for separation. This stress creates anxiety and sometimes chronic anxiety and makes it difficult for the development of individuals in the family and the growth of the entire family. The role of the therapist is to reduce this anxiety, among other things, by raising the differentiation capabilities of an individual or individuals within the family, self-reflection and taking personal responsibility (I-statements). The relevance of these therapeutic approaches in various social and cultural contexts will also be discussed with reference to the cases brought by the course participants.

Course/Module aims:
1. Theoretical conceptualization of the treatments that will be presented by the participants, including the conceptualization of the client’s/family's problems, the therapeutic process, the goals of the treatment and the roles of the therapist.
2. The course will also examine the application of these approaches among individuals and families seeking the care of the social worker regarding specific life situations such as addiction of one of the family members, domestic violence, trauma or family crisis, medical problem of one of the family members.
3. Using critical thinking on the therapeutic approaches that will be taught in the course and presenting alternative therapeutic approaches such as narrative approaches that emphasize social and cultural contexts of the treatment.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
At the end of this course, students will be able to deepen their understanding of the linkage between theory and clinical practice, develop an awareness to their clinical considerations, strategies and goals, and expand their repertoire of their clinical interventions

Attendance requirements(%):
100

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Lecture, Asynchronous material, students'case presentation and class discussion

Course/Module Content:
Basic concepts in Bowen's multi systemic trans-generational family therapy theory.
Family assessment
Couples with fusion relationships versus cutoffs
Family or individual therapy for individuals who experienced traumatic events according to Bowen's family therapy theory and other theories.
Inter-generational therapy by Mona Fishbane.
Support for increasing differentiation.
The inter-generational approach in a socio-cultural context.
Personal, marital or family therapy of specific problems depending on the cases brought by the participants (for example, families of addicts, domestic violence, families who have experienced bereavement, families in which one of the family members is ill)

Required Reading:
מאיירס, י. (2011). המשגת מקרה. בתוך נ. מור, י. מאיירס, צ. מרום, א. גלבוע-שכטמן (עורכים), טיפול קוגניטיבי-התנהגותי בילדים: עקרונות טיפוליים (עמ' 33-17). תל-אביב: דיונון.

Ballard, M. B., Fazio-Griffith, L., & Marino, R. (2016). Transgenerational Family Therapy: A Case Study of a Couple in Crisis. The Family Journal, 24(2), 109-113. doi:10.1177/1066480716628564
Brown, J., & Wright, J. (2010). Inviting each partner out of the fusion: Bowen Family Systems Theory and couple therapy. The CAPA Quarterly, 2, 17-20.
Erdem, G., & Safi, O. A. (2018). The cultural lens approach to Bowen family systems theory: Contributions of family change theory. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(2), 469-483. doi:10.1111/jftr.12258
Fishbane, M. D. (2019). Healing Intergenerational Wounds: An Integrative Relational–Neurobiological Approach. Family Process, 58(4), 796-818. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12488
Fishbane, M. D. (2023). Couple relational ethics: From theory to lived practice. Family Process, 62(2), 446-468. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12861
Goff, B. S. N., & Smith, D. B. (2005). Systemic traumatic stress: The couple adaptation to traumatic stress model. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 31(2), 145-157. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2005.tb01552.x
Holdsworth, E., Bowen, E., Brown, S., & Howat, D. (2014). Client engagement in psychotherapeutic treatment and associations with client characteristics, therapist characteristics, and treatment factors. Clinical Psychology Review, 34(5), 428-450. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2014.06.004
Kaplan, S. G., Arnold, E. M., Irby, M. B., Boles, K. A., & Skelton, J. A. (2014). Family systems theory and obesity treatment: Applications for clinicians. ICAN: Infant, Child, & Adolescent Nutrition, 6(1), 24-29. doi:10.1177/1941406413516001
Knauth, D. G. (2003). Family Secrets: An illustrative clinical case study guided by Bowen family systems theory. Journal of Family Nursing, 9(3), 331-344. doi:10.1177/1074840703255451
Kolbert, J. B., Crothers, L. M., & Field, J. E. (2012). Clinical interventions with adolescents using a family systems approach. The Family Journal, 21(1), 87-94. doi:10.1177/1066480712456826
Lawson, D. M., Davis, D., & Brandon, S. (2013). Treating complex trauma: Critical interventions with adults who experienced ongoing trauma in childhood. Psychotherapy, 50, 331-335. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032677
Licht, C., & Chabot, D. (2006). The Chabot emotional differentiation scale: A theoretically and psychometrically sound instrument for measuring Bowen’s intrapsychic aspect of differentiation. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 32(2), 167-180. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2006.tb01598.x
MacKay, L. (2012). Trauma and Bowen family systems theory: Working with adults who were abused as children. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 33(3), 232-241. doi:10.1017/aft.2012.28
MacKay, L. M. (2017). Differentiation of self: Enhancing therapist resilience when working with relational trauma. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 38(4), 637-656. doi:10.1002/anzf.1276
McGoldrick, M., & Carter, B. (2001). Advances in coaching: Family therapy with one person. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 27(3), 281-300. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2001.tb00325.x
Murray, C. E. (2006). Controversy, constraints, and context: Understanding family violence through family systems theory. The Family Journal, 14(3), 234-239. doi:10.1177/1066480706287277
Sperry, L. (2005). Case Conceptualization: A Strategy for Incorporating Individual, Couple and Family Dynamics in the Treatment Process. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 33(5), 353-364. doi:10.1080/01926180500341598
Thompson, H. M., Wojciak, A. S., & Cooley, M. E. (2019). Family-based approach to the child welfare system: an integration of Bowen family theory concepts. Journal of Family Social Work, 22(3), 231-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10522158.2019.1584776
van Ecke, Y., Chope, R. C., & Emmelkamp, P. M. (2006). Bowlby and Bowen: Attachment theory and family therapy. Counseling & Clinical Psychology Journal, 3(2), 81-81-108.
Walsh, F. (2019). Loss and bereavement in families: A systemic framework for recovery and resilience. In APA handbook of contemporary family psychology: Foundations, methods, and contemporary issues across the lifespan, Vol. 1 (pp. 649-663). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000099-036
Wright, J. (2009). Self-Soothing — A recursive intrapsychic and relational process: The contribution of the Bowen theory to the process of self-soothing. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 30(1), 29-41. doi:10.1375/anft.30.1.29

Additional Reading Material:
Additional reading material that is tailored to the specific case presentation will be distributed during the course.

Grading Scheme :
Essay / Project / Final Assignment / Referat 60 %
Submission assignments during the semester: Exercises / Essays / Audits / Reports / Forum / Simulation / others 30 %
Clinical Work / Lab Work / Practical Work / Workshops 10 %

Additional information:
Attendance in all classes is mandatory.
Throughout the course, the student will be required to treat three individuals, couples, or families based on Bowen or other family therapy theoretical framework.
• Maintaining a treatment diary for one client/family with records for all treatment sessions. The diaries will be submitted for feedback at the end of each semester. A total of 25 sessions should be submitted.
• Presentation of the treatment in class - Each student will present the treatment twice during the course using the diary excerpts.
• Mid-year exercise - will focus on a dilemma raised during the therapy sessions and its conceptualization in a theoretic model in family therapy (30%)
• Final paper will be submitted at the end of the academic year (60%)
• Submitting the treatment diary and presenting the cases in class are preconditions for submitting the final paper (10%)