1st Edition
Foundational Concepts and Models of Family Therapy An Introduction for Online Learning
This textbook aims to introduce students to the foundational concepts of the marriage and family therapy field, providing a comprehensive overview of a range of models and their practical application.
Designed specifically for distance-learning, Yulia Watters and Darren Adamson bring together a collection of experienced marriage and family therapists to teach the absolute essentials of marriage and family therapy without peripheral or incidental information. Iterative in its presentation, the book introduces important systems concepts, provides a compelling history of family therapy, presents detailed exploration of classical and postmodern approaches to therapy, and covers clinical application and treatment planning. It uniquely follows the course structure of the first institution to receive Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) accreditation for both master’s and doctoral online programs, giving students the fundamental knowledge they need to help them prepare for their licensing examination and subsequent practice as MFTs.
Written for students seeking to be MFT practitioners, this important volume adds a fresh perspective to teaching and application of family therapy.
1. Introduction: Systems Theory in the Context of Family Therapy
Yulia Watters and Darren Adamson
Part I- Foundational Concepts of Family Therapy
2. Using Theory in the Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy
Kristi Harrison
3. History of Family Therapy
Patricia Postanowicz
4. Building Blocks to Conceptualizing Family: A Family System's Perspective
Valerie Q. Glass
5. Postmodernism and Social Constructionism: Foundational Concepts
Valerie Q. Glass
6. The Core Process of Therapy: Planning Therapy Guided by Theory
Kristi Harrison
7. Clinical Practice: Preparing for Day 1
Michael Knerr
Part II- Modern or Classic Models of Family Therapy
8. Milan Systemic Family Therapy
Valerie Q. Glass
9. Structural Family Therapy
Asha Sutton
10. Strategic Family Therapy
Emily Schmittel
11. Experiential Family Therapy
Amanda Veldorale-Griffin
12. Bowen Family Systems Theory
Michael Knerr
13. Emotionally-Focused Family Therapy
Emily Schmittel
14. Gottman Method Couple's Therapy
Amanda Veldorale-Griffin
15. Contextual Therapy
Aurélia Bickler
16. Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy
Amanda Veldorale-Griffin
17. Psychoanalytic Family Therapy
Siva Perera and Emily Schmittel
Part III- Postmodern Models of Family Therapy
18. Postmodernism and Social Constructionism in Family Therapy
Valerie Q. Glass
19. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Vanieca Kraus
20. Narrative Family Therapy
Valerie Q. Glass
21. Collaborative Language Systems Therapy
Siva Perera
Biography
Dr. Watters is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in FL and DE and has been the Director of Curriculum Development and Professor at Northcentral and then National University since 2012. She holds a PhD in MFT from Nova Southeastern University and a master's degree in Instructional Design from Northcentral University.
Dr. Adamson is a licensed MFT and has been a practicing Marriage and Family Therapist since 1987 and a Professor since 1989. He has been with Northcentral and then National University since 2010, currently serving as the Associate Dean for the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He holds a Master's and PhD degree in MFT from Brigham Young University and is licensed as an MFT in Utah.
"Recent, global events highlight the vitality of mental healthcare to individual and collective well-being. The impact of these events on education, training, and delivery models of care has been tectonic. It has created gaps in healthcare delivery and exposed significant gaps in provider training. 'Necessity is the mother of invention'. It is the impetus for significant workforce development trends in family therapy training. Seminal texts (first order) that focus on systems theory and family therapy models often sacrifice application for overview. This critique has birthed additional family therapy clinical texts (second order) over time, that focus more on application, but none has managed to integrate systems theory and family therapy models in a comprehensive, applied way. Foundational Concepts and Models of Family Therapy: An Introduction for Online Learning achieves the Goldilocks Principle; it’s just right. It’s comprehensive, integrated, and applied. The editors and authors are to be commended, as this is a difficult feat, particularly when the application is for the online learning environment. Online healthcare education, training, and delivery is the future, and the demand is predicted to grow. The text represents the third order change the field of family therapy needs as educators and training programs continue to ramp up to outcome-based, data-driven healthcare education that is vital in the 21st century."
Christian Jordal, PhD, Chair, Counseling and Family Therapy Department, Drexel University, Former Editor, Journal of Family Psychotherapy.
"This book offers an amazing collection of helpful chapters which were written by seasoned MFT educators, teaching in an online environment. Readers are exposed to a strong introduction to systemic ways of thinking and practice and to a number of key MFT models of therapy. The book is written in a way that readers can engage the ideas in an interactive way and it has a strong application component. This book is uniquely helpful for those learning MFT in an online environment."
Dale E. Bertram, PhD, Professor of MFT, Campbellsville University Louisville
"Systems thinking and practice in family therapy has proven to advance the understanding and connection of relationships. Exploring the theories identified in this book has pulled together the most important ways to utilize and practice MFT. Therapists from a variety of underpinnings can involve themselves in broadening the scope of application to our larger population. Thank you for such a thorough comprehensive computation for the MFT field."
Tommie V. Boyd, PhD, LMFT.
