Family Psychology

Family Psychology Specialty Council2012

What is Family Psychology

• Family Psychology is a specialty in professional psychology that is focused on the emotions, thoughts, and behavior of individuals, couples, and families in relationships and in the broader environment in which they function.

• It is a specialty founded on principles of systems theory, with the family as a system being of most central focus.

• Family Psychology has a rich research and practice tradition

• Within this framework family therapists might study and practice with:

• Individuals• Couples• Families• Work groups• Community groups of all kinds• Organized systems

Major focus

• It is not so much that family psychologists treat different populations or even that a family psychologist’s clients present with vastly different problems.

• Rather, it is the way in which family psychologist’s think and work that differentiates him or her from the more traditionally trained professional psychologist.

• The family psychologist is trained to approach client issues from systemic and multisystemic perspectives.

• This perspective provides a vastly different conceptual model from which to view the complex presenting issues of families and their constituent members.

• Whether the client is a family, a couple, or a single member of a family, the family psychologist approaches both research and practice from a systemic perspective

History

• Family Psychology has its roots in the early child welfare and social work movements of the early 1900’s

• The unique nature of Family Psychology emerged in the 1960’s with the emergence of “systems thinking”

• The early systems thinkers were mathematicians, economists, engineers, and communication theorists

• The first generation of Family Psychology theoretically based practices were built on systems thinking and come about in the middle 1960’s

• Evidence-based Family Psychology emerged from the extensive research on effective practices beginning in the 1980’s until the present

Scope

• Family Psychologists work with individuals, couples, families and broader social systems. Regardless of the client, the Family Psychologist conceptualizes treatment from an interpersonal, systems perspective.

• Family Psychology researchers study family dynamics, couple dynamics, relationship patterns and effective practices

• Family Psychology intervention have been found to be effective with:

• Youth behavior problems• Couple and family communication issues• Couple relational distress• Substance use and abuse (in couples, families and with youth)• Managing mental illness by reducing hospitalizations and relapse• Schooling problems of youngsters• Behavioral problems of children or adolescents• Parenting problems

Main Theories

• Traditional/Historical Approaches• Structural Family Therapy• Strategic Family Therapy• Multigenerational Family Therapy• McMaster Model

Evidence Based Family Interventions• Functional Family Therapy• Multisystemic Family Therapy• Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy• Multidimensional Family Therapy• Cognitive Family/Couple Therapy• Behavioral Couple Therapy

Typical Techniques

• Evidence based Treatments

• Systems interventions (including family therapy) from a wide array of emphases

• Network therapy

• Couples therapy

• Group therapy and work group therapy

• Consultation with external authorities such as school professionals, primary and chronic care physicians, juvenile authorities and the courts

Sub-Areas

• Family Therapy

• Couple Therapy

• Parent Education

• Divorce Mediation

• Sex Therapy

• Organizational Consultation

• Forensic Parenting and Child Evaluations

The effectiveness of Family Psychology

• Family Psychology has a 50 year tradition of research focusing on:• The effectiveness of family psychology intervention

• The patterns and processes of family and couple functioning

• Family Psychology has repeatedly been found to be as or more effective than alternative approaches for a wide range of psychological problems

Current Issues

• How to effectively implement Family and Couple based treatment in community settings

• Identifying adaptation for cultural and ethnic diversity

• Integrating Family Psychology into Primary Care settings

• Primary training in Couple and Family Psychology in graduate and undergraduate training

• Using Family Psychology intervention methods to work with major mental illness

Resources

• Books:• Sexton, T. L., Weeks, G., Robbins, M. (2003). Handbook of

Family Therapy. New York: Routledge.

• Fonagy, P. Taret, M, Cottrell, D, Phillips, J, and Kurtz, Z. (2002). What works for whom? A critical review of treatments for children and adolescents. New York: Guilford Press.

• Kazdin, A. E. and Weisz, J.R. Evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescents. (2003). New York: Guilford Press

• Bray, J.H. and Stanton, M. (2009). The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Family Psychology. New York: Wiley-Blackwell

• Journals:• Journal of Family Psychology• Family and Couple Research and Practice• Journal of Marital and Family Therapy• Journal of Family Therapy