The Systemic Way

Nick Pendry is a social worker and family therapist. He is currently employed as the deputy director of children's services at the London Borough of Wandsworth. He identifies as a Brown-Indian man. Nick has worked in various roles in the NHS and local authority children’s services. He is particularly interested in embedding systemic ideas and practices into children’s social care and in the construction of race and racism.In this conversation Nick Pendry shares his thoughts and reflections on race and racism and how they inform and shape his practice. Nick invites us to consider our own positions and how together we can open the door to more authentic, meaningful and transformative conversations about race and racism. 

In this episode we hear about Inga-Britt Krause's professional life with a focus on race and equity - the importance of teaching it and the nuances that need to be held in mind. The conversation is framed around her paper "Can we teach race and equity? (2022)" and we hope it invites a lens of curiosity and reflection on where we are at with race and equity as a systemic community.Inga-Britt Krause is Training and Development Consultant with special reference to race and equity at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust where she also worked as a Consultant Systemic Psychotherapist in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. She first trained as a Social Anthropologist at the London School of Economics and Political Science and teaches widely, nationally and internationally, on the subject of social science and psychotherapy and about the place of culture and race in clinical practice and theory.Paper discussed in this episode:Krause, I. B. (2022). Can we teach race and equity?. Journal of Family Therapy, 44(1), 157-170.New publication:Barbetta, P., Cavagnis, M. E., Krause, I. B., & Telfener, U. (2022). Ethical and aesthetic explorations of systemic practice: New critical reflections. Taylor & Francis.

Dr Victor Yalom, founder of Psychotherapy.net joins the Systemic Way in a conversation about developing your best therapeutic self. We hear about his experiences of becoming a therapist, creating Psychotherapy.net and also tips on developing a more dynamic, authentic self so that you can better connect with and support your clients along their therapeutic journey. Being self-aware, comfortable sitting with difficult emotions, and truly present for our clients are essential skills that cannot be learned from books and classes. Yet these are key to forming strong therapeutic alliances and promoting meaningful growth and change.Dr Victor Yalom shares his ideas on continuing professional development beyond the books whether you’re an established clinician with years of experience or a new practitioner just starting out. www.psychotherapy.net

In this episode, Julie and Sezer speak with Gwyn Daniel about her connection to politics and systemic thinking and how she navigates the two in the systemic community. Gwyn talks about gender, power, class and geography in this rich and insightful episode.Gwyn Daniel is a Systemic Family Therapist, Trainer, Clinical Supervisor  and co-founder of the Oxford Family Institute. She has authored or co-authored many professional books and articles and we welcome Gwyn back to talk to us about this important topic.

In this episode we explore the personal and professional journey of Hesther Selbeck, a Dutch Systemic Psychotherapist and developer of Contextual Equine Therapy. Hesther takes us on a ride through the development, theory and practice that underpins her model. Contextual Equine Therapy is a form of systemic therapy in which horses are used as co-therapists. The interaction with the horses provides a (deep) experiential form of therapy in which clients come into contact with their emotions and are mirrored in their behavior. During the treatment, two psychotherapeutic methods are united: equine therapy (Eagala Model) and systemic therapy. The Eagala Model sees the horse as a sensitive co-therapist, the team facilitates. Equine therapy focuses on the emotional experience and giving meaning to the behavior of the animals in response to client(s).Hesther Selbeck has developed this treatment based on her background and expertise as a systems therapist in Child and Youth Mental Health Care. There she encountered a challenge in changing patterns between family members and generating hope and perspective. She questioned the context of the clinic on the psychiatric behavior of young people. While traveling on horseback through Mongolia, she discovered a process of interaction between her and the horse. There was an interaction going on. These insights and experiences became the basis for the approach. www.hestherselbeck.nl 

In this episode we are honoured to speak with Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo, where we discuss her work with a focus on the COURRAGE approach that she has developed with women who have experienced trauma.  COURRAGE is a collective narrative way of working that privileges the alternative stories of women who have faced significant hardships. It honours the strengths, skills and courage women show and use in the face of sorrow and grief.Ncazelo talks us through the different stages of the model and shares stories about how it was co-created and reflections in the women's experiences.  This is an inspiring and insightful talk with a practitioner who takes us into the heart of her practice. Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo, the pioneer of Tree of Life through her organisation PHOLA  provides training and supervision in many countries where the methodology is used to support practitioners to remain rooted to the values and principles that inform it. The trainings offered seek to ensure fidelity in the use, application and adaptation of the methodology and contribute towards promoting culturally sensitive therapies.She developed other culturally sensitive counselling tools namely; COURRAGE Methodology and NARRATIVES IN THE SUITCASE Project. Find out more about Ncazelo and PHOLA at:https://phola.org 

In this episode, Julie and Sezer speak with Chiara Santin who  is a Systemic and Family Psychotherapist, supervisor, trainer and Director of Rainbow Family Therapy Services  and Rainbow Community Projects CIC.  Chiara has  worked with children and families for more than 30 years, in Italy as a community-based youth worker and in UK as a professional. She is passionate about promoting affordable family therapy, activity-based therapy and EcoTherapy. EcoTherapy is a form of therapy  which uses  nature as the context for change, self-growth and healing.  It is the application of Ecopsychology, a well-developed field to claim people’s need to reconnect to nature for their own benefit as well as promoting a renewed awareness and commitment to caring and protecting the environment of which we are part of. Chiara talks to us about her projects in applying EcoTherapy to systemic family therapy. For more information about Chiara's work and EcoTherapy, visit her website on:www.familytherapyservicesrainbow.org 

In this episode we hear about the  ground-breaking Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy (Wampler, 2020) from three contributing editors. We discuss it's creation, the process of its development and get a deeper dive into some of the chapters. This handbook is a magnificent resource for family therapist as its sets to redefine the  profession and practice of systemic therapy and it was a real pleasure and privilege to speak with Reenee, Mudita and Adrian about their role in creating this international handbookThe Handbook integrates the scholarly literature on systemic interventions focused on children, couples, and families into a single resource. Volume 1 includes critical information on the theoretical, practice, research, and policy foundations of the profession of systemic family therapy and its roles in an integrated health care system. Topics in Volume 2 (children and adolescents), Volume 3 (couples), and Volume 4 (family over the lifespan) reflect established and emerging interventions for the core difficulties in relationships that impact the mental and physical health of individuals, couples, and families. Adrian J. Blow, PhD, works as a couple and family therapy intervention researcher and educator at Michigan State University. Adrian is a Professor and Chair in the Human Development and Family Studies department and a core faculty member of the Couple and Family Therapy program. He studies families and trauma, military families, resilience processes in couples, and change processes (common factors) in interventions pertaining to Systemic Family Therapy. . He has mentored many students and in 2017 was awarded the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Training Award, which recognizes excellence in family therapy education. Mudita Rastogi, PhD, practices at Aspire Consulting and Therapy as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, grant consultant, coach, and educator. She is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and Clinical Fellow, having practiced in both India and the US. She is a former Professor at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, Program Director for the SAMHSA-funded Minority Fellowship Program at AAMFT, Associate Editor for the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Editor of Multicultural Couple Therapy and Voices of Color, and Associate Editor for the Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. She is a founding member of the Indian Association for Family Therapy, with interest in diversity, inclusion, global mental health, parenting, and child-free couples. Reenee Singh, DSysPsych, is the former Chief Executive of the Association of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice in the UK. She is a Consultant Family and Systemic Psychotherapist, currently working at the Child and Family Practice, where she founded the London Intercultural Couples Centre and serves as a Director. Reenee is a Visiting Professor in the School of Psychology, University of Bergamo, Italy, and is the past editor of the Journal of Family Therapy. She is the author of three books and numerous academic publications in the areas of "race," culture, and qualitative research. Reenee has taught worldwide and presents her research at national and international conferences.Special Mention:Karen S. Wampler, PhD, retired as Professor and Chair of the Human Development and Family Studies department at Michigan State University. She previously served as Department Chair, Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Program Director, and the C. R. and Virginia Hutcheson Professor at Texas Tech University. Prior to that, she developed and directed the MFT Program at the University of Georgia. Her research focused on applying attachment theory to couple interaction, family therapy process research, and observational measures of relationships. A past editor of the Journal of M

In this episode we meet with the founder of Superhero Therapy, the amazing  Dr Janina Scarlet! We talk about her  work, career and the development of Superhero Therapy. As ever, we explore how this approach can be used within systemic therapy and think about ways in which we can incorporate the use of Superheroes in our work with families.Dr. Janina Scarlet, based in San Diego, CA, is a Clinical Psychologist, award-winning author, podcaster and a full-time geek! Dr Scarlet is a Ukrainian-born refugee who  survived Chernobyl radiation and persecution. She immigrated to the United States at the age of 12 with her family and later, inspired by the X-Men, developed Superhero Therapy. We hear her story of how she developed the approach. Superhero Therapy  is a clinical method of incorporating characters from popular culture, including Superheroes and other characters from books, movies, TV shows and video games into evidence-based therapy (such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy) to help us to learn to become our own version of a superhero in real life. It is intended for all ages and has been utilised to reshape narratives, build rapport, and manage an array of psychological issues such as  anxiety, depression, PTSD, chronic pain and chronic illness, substance abuse disorders, eating disorders, and other difficulties.Please do share your thoughts with us at:https://www.instagram.com/thesystemicway/

In this episode we meet Dr Travis Heath, PhD, to speak about decolonising psychotherapy. He generously shares his current thinking, reading and practice around the topic.Travis Heath is Narrative Therapist, Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado. His work has  focused on  shifting from a multicultural approach to counseling to one of cultural democracy that invites people to heal in mediums that are culturally near.  Travis has also written on the use of rap music in narrative therapy, working with persons entangled in the criminal justice system in ways that maintain their dignity, narrative practice stories as pedagogy, a co-created questioning practice called reunion questions, and community healing strategies. Travis is currently co-authoring the first book on Contemporary Narrative Therapy with David Epston. Travis has ran workshops and speak about his work in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom, and United States.Link to his Ted Talk:https://www.ted.com/talks/travis_heath_self_care_to_communities_of_care