1st Edition
A Step-by-Step Guide to Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy A Socially Responsible Approach to Clinical Practice
Writing to the practicing clinician, this book offers a step-by-step practical guide to Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT) when working with individuals, couples, and families.
Most therapists know sociocultural systems influence their clients’ lives, but few know how to connect the dots between what happens in the wider society, interpersonal neurobiology, relational processes, and client well-being. Written by a founder of SERT, Carmen Knudson-Martin draws on knowledge from multiple disciplines to innovatively weave together a practical step-by-step guide that demystifies the connections between micro and macro processes and relational/self-development.
Divided into four parts, chapters cover how to conceptualize clinical issues through a socio-emotional lens, the therapist’s role in assessment, goal-setting, clinical decision-making, the “how-to” of each of the three phases of the SERT clinical sequence, and self-of-the-therapist work and clinical research that inform the model. The clear writing style and detailed examples make complex social processes accessible, demonstrating how good practice is—and must be—equitable and socially responsible.
This practical guide is essential reading for all mental health professionals, such as seasoned family therapists, counselors, psychologists, social workers, and students in training in these fields.
1. An Introduction to Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy Part One: Socio-Emotional Case Conceptualization 2. Expand the Lens 3. Link Emotion, Societal Discourse, and Relational Process 4. Identify the Flow of Power 5. Center the Circle of Care Part Two: Clinical Role, Assessment, and Treatment Planning 6. Third Order Ethics and the Clinical Role 7. SERT Assessment and the Therapeutic Alliance 8. SERT Treatment Planning and Clinical Decision-Making Part Three: SERT Clinical Sequence Step by Step 9. Phase 1 - Position toward Relationality and Equity 10. Phase 2 - Interrupt the Flow of Power 11. Phase 3 - Practice Mutuality Part Four: Learn through Research and Reflexivity 12. Engage Contextual Self of the Therapist 13. Study Clinical Practice 14. Co-Create the Future
Biography
Carmen Knudson-Martin, PhD, LMFT, Professor Emerita, Lewis & Clark College, is a developer of Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy. She has published widely on the political and ethical implications of therapist practices.
"A Step-by-Step Guide to Socioemotional Relationship Therapy is a game changer. Thoughtful and well-researched, it strikes a great balance between the theoretical and the practical. It opened my eyes to power dynamics in relationships and gave me practical intervention strategies that I am already using. You will want to read it cover to cover, and then refer back to it regularly! Everyone can learn something from this book!"
Ryan B. Seedall, Ph.D, Associate Professor at Utah State University, Associate Co-Editor of The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy, and Co-Author of Deliberate Practice in Systemic Family Therapy
"This must-read book reveals how common societal discourses and interrelated “isms” result in the individual, couple, and family relationship problems seen in therapy. This seminal book’s illustrative case examples, reflective questions, specific competencies and other core tools help novice and seasoned therapists and researchers to empower couples, families, and individuals to reject harmful societal discourses and improve their relationships according to their own values."
Shalonda Kelly, PhD, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; author of Diversity in Couple and Family Therapy: Ethnicities, Sexualities, and Socioeconomics
"Knudson-Martin’s pedagogical and clinical brilliance makes SERT principles of mutuality and equity accessible and practical. Readers will find clearly articulated definitions and clinical examples of how to engage and embody the humble contextual relationality the model offers us and our clients."
Jessica ChenFeng, PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary, co-author of Finding Your Voice as a Beginning Marriage and Family Therapist
"In this wonderful beautifully written book, Carmen Knudson-Martin presents her cutting-edge approach to relational therapy, the product of a lifetime of experience as a therapist, scholar, teacher, researcher, and supervisor, Knudson-Martin provides a compelling clear theoretical framework for socio-emotional relationship therapy, offers a guide to the specific steps in its practice, and supplies numerous evocative clinical examples. This is a book that illuminates essential aspects of relational therapies that are often ignored by others: the implicit underlying values underlying treatment. Feminist, egalitarian, but ultimately human, this book raises the consciousness of practitioners about vital aspects of relational therapy, having to do with power, social class, and other aspects of intersectionality. Valuable either as a comprehensive approach to treatment or as a source for those of various specific therapy orientations about how to incorporate issues about gender, culture, and intersectionality into relational therapy, this is the book about relational therapy you should read this year."
Jay Lebow, Ph.D., ABPP, Clinical Professor, Family Institute at Northwestern and Northwestern University
