The AAMFT Podcast

Mona Fishbane, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist licensed in Illinois and New Jersey, is the past director of the Couple Therapy Training Program at the Chicago Center for Family Health. Mona specializes in treating couples and adult individuals. Her particular focus is on integrating "news from neuroscience" with a systemic approach to therapy. She sits down with Eli for the first of a two-episode focus on neurobiology and couple functioning. She discusses how to empower couples and therapists by understanding neurobiology, top-down and bottom-up techniques for emotional regulation, and the importance of affect labeling or naming one’s feelings. Finally, she discusses neuroplasticity and ways to regulate emotions so that we can live according to our higher values.Teneo is AAMFT’s online education platform and provides clinical training on various topics with a focus on systems and relational therapies, offering continuing education credits for mental health professionals. Explore our course catalog at www.aamft.org/learning and use code TENEO10 for 10% off your purchase.

Dr Chelsea Spencer is an Assistant Research Professor at Kansas State University and has extensively studied Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and conjoint couple treatment for IPV. Dr Spencer sits down with Eli to discuss her early life and education working with Dr Sandra Stith, factors in determining which couples may and may not be good candidate for conjoint treatment, and techniques for assessing the level of violence happening in relationships. She further discusses the difference between situational violence and intimate terrorism and risk factors of spousal homicide.

This week Eli sits down with Dr Howard Liddle. Dr Liddle is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, and Director of the Center for Treatment Research on Adolescent Drug Abuse at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Liddle's research focus is on the development, testing, implementation, and dissemination of family-based treatment for adolescent substance abuse and delinquency. The discussion touches on a breadth of topics including his early inspirations working with family therapy and youth, how his ideas developed under mentors like Mnuchin and Haley, and the importance of sponsoring the technique and idea of change in psychotherapy. Finally they discuss the origins of Multi-dimensional Family Therapy, how it pays homage to traditional models, and how it moves the profession forward in terms of empirical support.

Frank Anderson, MD, is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation. Franks sits down with Eli to discuss the current state of psychopharmacology, and how medicine and talk therapy can work hand in hand to drive client results. He discusses strategies for therapists to stay on top of the latest treatments and therapies, when and how to make a referral, and how to get buy-in from skeptical clients on the issue of psychopharmacology. Finally, he talks about the importance of empowering clients to make their own medication decisions by providing them access to information about when to realistically expect relief, how levels can be tested and evaluated, drug interactions and more.

Dr. Ellen Wachtel is a renowned couples’ therapist and author of the book The Heart of Couple Therapy. She sits down with Eli to discuss the core ingredients of effective couples’ therapy, the importance of hopefulness to the therapeutic process, and how a person’s legacy issues can impact their current relationship. She also shares examples of her unique use of the geneogram, and ways in which couples can work together to address communication and trust issues rather than trying to solve problems alone.

Constance Ahrons was a ground-breaking systemic therapist who challenged negative stereotypes about divorce and was an early advocate for collaborative divorce. She was the author of The Good Divorce and participated in groundbreaking longitudinal research on the effects of divorce on children. In this episode she discusses her early career and influences including working with Carl Whitaker, her pioneering research on predicting adjustment of children of divorce by quality of the co-parenting relationship, and her work with binuclear families. Finally, she describes the kinship system of working with divorced co-parents and the unique classification system she uses to describe them.

Patrick Carnes, PhD, and Stefanie Carnes, PhD, LMFT are the founder and president, respectively, of the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals. In this episode, they discuss the unique nature of being a father and daughter team in the field, their treatment approach to compulsive sexual behaviors, and the impact of these behaviors on couple and individual functioning in order to achieve a sex life that is fun, erotic, intimate, and healthy.

Jay Lappin trained in the relational architecture of Structural Family Therapy with Dr. Salvador Minuchin. He currently maintains a private practice, teaches at Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania, leads workshops and work as an independent consultant. Jorge Colapinto has written and lectured both nationally and internationally on structural family therapy and currently teaches at the Drexel University’s Marriage and Family Program. Jay and Jorge sit down with Eli to remember the legendary Dr. Sal Minuchin and discuss Structural Family Therapy. They discuss the importance of working “outside to inside” from context to individual, Structural Family Therapy as a way of being rather than just a set of techniques, and the importance of adaptability to changing times.

Mary Jo Barrett is an author and the Executive Director and co-founder of The Center for Contextual Change, Ltd. She holds a master’s in social work from the University of Illinois Jane Addams School of Social Work and is currently on the faculties of University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, The Chicago Center For Family Health, and the Family Institute of Northwestern University. She discusses the origins of her career and interest in trauma and the family system. She also discusses the importance of remembering the intergenerational when working with individuals with trauma, the importance of trying to find the good even in people who may have done monstrous things, and transparency in the therapeutic process.

Kaethe Weingarten, Ph.D., directs the Witness to Witness (W2W) program, a nonprofit organization that consults to individuals, families, and communities locally, nationally, and internationally to transform toxic witnessing of violence and violation to active compassionate witnessing with others, for the Migrant Clinicians Network. She discusses her early life experiences and the origins of the Witnessing Project, the importance of witnessing to move people into empowered positions, and balancing sharing your own experiences vs witnessing. She finishes by discussing methods for fighting "compassion fatigue" or burnout and sharing stories of resilience.Registration is open for the Systemic Family Therapy Conference 2021, sponsored by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. Reserve your spot today! www.aamft.org/conference