Context magazine

Contents snapshot

Editorial – Ged Smith

Black and minority ethnic inter-racial couples’ experiences of being a multi-ethnic family – Mala Mistry

Fighting for connection: Softening blame between couples using emotionally-focused couples therapy in adult mental health services – Alison Hall

“Families are families”: Systemic practitioners’ reflections on working together across learning disability and older people’s services – Hannah Shilling, Anna Strudwick, Liz Curtis, Claire Delaney, Rose Knight, Chloe Brooks, Tracey Morgan and Hilly Webb-Peploe

Reflections on working systemically with families living with acquired brain injury – Freddie Byrne

Learning from my clients (and other stories) about dealing with illness and visible difference: Weaving back and forth between the professional and the personal – Judy Sutton

Systemic training: Celebration and metamorphosis – Claire Lee

The intersectionality of the personal and the professional: Reflections on race and equality discussions in a CAMH service – Elaine Cheng-Whitehead

Grounding in an uncertain world: How come two hours on a Wednesday made such a difference? – Roy Smith, Nina Heptner and Emily Reffold

The great supervision bake off: Developing a new model of supervision and assessment using new and old ingredients – Michael Briggs and Alison McGivern

Interview with Judy Gray, ex-director of clinical training at the Institute of Family Therapy and course chair of the MSc – Roice Durand, Esi Noonoo and Natalie Shoreman

Children and social systems: A Dickensian ghost story – Steve Littlewood

Branching out: Sussex AFT – Kelly Millard

Barbetta, P., Cavagnis, M.E., Krause, I.-B. & Telfener, U. (2022) Ethical and Aesthetic Explorations of Systemic Practice: New Critical Reflections. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis Group. – Review by Carmen Garcia Perez de Leon

AFT Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Survey 2022 – Naureen Whittinger

AFT news

Contents snapshot

Editorial – Victoria Jones and Mark Haydon-Laurelut

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet?”: Disability, disablism and ableism – Donna Reeve

The diversity working group – disability/ability group – Fionnuala McKinley and Linda Pow

“Abort, abort, abort”: Messages from a dark platform of ignorance and how to promote humanity – Emma Alm, Lucy Bennett-Downes and Jeni McElwee

It takes a village to raise a child: Resisting ableism when we raise our children with disabilities – Katarina Luce and Sarah Brown

“Normal” is a setting on a washing machine, not a person – TK Vincent

A self-reflexive exploration of dis/ableist learning and how this informs my systemic work with children with a learning disability – Rachel Ames

Hidden disability, hidden experiences? The value of talking about disability: Reflections on a therapeutic encounter – Samantha Crooks, Bernadette McKivitt, Kirsty and Diane

‘We are all special in our own unique way’: Reflections on navigating competence in a disabling process – Josef Smith, Tammy Smith, Adrian Smith and Emily Smith in conversation with Nuala Cullen and Matthew Selman

Are you racist, homophobic, sexist? So why are you ableist? – Owen Cox

Is this just another word? A conversation about learning disability and ableism – Gary Bourlet, Sandra Fortuna, Mark Haydon-Laurelut and Nina Viljoen

Pardon? Life experiences as a hard-of-hearing person – TK Vincent

Be part of the solution, not part of the problem: Developing enabling clinical practice when working with disabled people – Donna Reeve

AFT webinar series: Everything you need to know about what not to do as a systemic supervisor – a webinar by Gary Robinson, November 2022 – Report by Sara Thomas

Susan Lang (25 April 1939 – 28 October 2022) – Karen Partridge, Mary Spence and Caroline Dalal, on behalf of FKCC

Branching out: Manchester AFT – The Manchester AFT committee

AFT news

Contents snapshot

Editorial – Joanne Hipplewith

Re-storying failure through an exploration of writing as practice – Leah Salter

Trials, and an error? Reflections on a first job in CAMHS – Richard Burge

Failing to be well: Using the contexts and discourses map to access the “coulds” of living in our work – Bethan Ramsey and Gretchen Siglar

An ode to stolpersteine … stumbling blocks that give us insight into failure – Lorna Edwards

Failing, to learn; learning to fail – Carmen García Pérez de León

Why safety can only be a passing feeling in groups – Gail Simon

Failing to do better – Victoria Bean

Becoming a failure – Joanne Hipplewith

Where do we grow from here? – Andrea Francois-Taylor

36 years of failure ….. so what’s changed? – John Burnham, with contributions from Edak Effiom, Clare Spencer, Laura Darbyshire and Leanne Bingle (members of the [successful!] clinical training group 2020-2022) and Beki Brain (supervisor in training)

AFT webinar series: The dilemmas encountered by clergy who are family therapists – a webinar by Hillary Nyika, Nadir Khan and Catherine Rodger, 1 March 2023 – Report by Rehma Said

AFT webinar series: Further thoughts on 1.5 order therapy – on knowing and not knowing – a webinar by Ged Smith, 17 April 2023 – Reports by Phil Laing and Sharon Pettle

Laura Fruggeri, Francesca Balestra and Elena Venturelli – Psychotherapeutic Competencies: Techniques, Relationships and Epistemology in Systemic Practice, published by Routledge – Review by Rachel Watson

Revisiting masculinity: Presented by Ged Smith, hosted by Jersey Association for Family Therapy, 21 April 2023 – Sinead Peacock-Brennan

AFT news

Contents snapshot

Editorial – Carole Payne

Bridge the gaps: Football and systemic narrative approaches to dialectical behavioural therapy (informed) skills coaching for young people and their parents – Adam Digby

Reflections after setting up and establishing a family therapy teaching clinic in adult services – Nicholas Costas and Fiona Collins

Documenting narratives of strength and resource for young people in the context of social care services – Martha Pearson

Host, guest and stranger – the family, family therapist and nursing team in inpatient family therapy: Reflecting on our multiple roles using the concept of ‘ghos-ti’ (guest, host, stranger) – Amy Alexander, Lily Roscamp and Collette Williams

A systemic- and pandemic- re-modelling of a dialectical behaviour therapy parent group programme: Zoom-ing toward a third-order position – Ellen Twist and Jaymini Chauhan

The location dislocation and relocation (LDR) framework: It’s all in the be-coming – Ana Draper and Elisa Marcellino

The forgotten piece of the orchestra: Raising awareness of accent as a key dimension of identity and experience, and ideas for aesthetic explorations in practice – Jordan Makmihe

Conversations about cat superpowers: Inviting clients with trauma histories into a reflective therapeutic space. How sharing clinical notes allows clients to increase their wellbeing. A tale of 24 sessions. Keith Oulton and Ariel Sanders

Practising the art of irreverence in developing life-enhancing conversations: Fran Hedges 1945 – 2021 – Mark Chidgey and Heleni Andreadi

SPACE, 2-day workshop, presented by Eli Lebowitz – Review by Chana Hughes

Brief summary from National Family Therapy Organisations (NFTO) conference and meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria 1 to 3 June, 2023: ‘Empowering quiet stories of trust, support and humanity’ – Shan Tate and Ged Smith

Branching out: West Country AFT (WCAFT) – Liz Curtis, on behalf of the WCAFT committee

Building bridges to develop professional identity – a report from the AFT symposium – Kate Groucutt

AFT news

Contents snapshot

Editorial – Pete Brown and Miriam Chachamu

“My mother, the therapist”: Exploring a personal case study of NVR-informed parenting of a son with ASC during a period of acute change in the family’s routine – Chana Hughes and ‘Ben’

Using role-plays in parent therapy sessions – enacting the internalised other? Miriam Chachamu

Parenting advice and systemic ideas: A group to explore and support the ADHD parent experience – Diana Goldin and Jess Bulman

The parent line – discovering parenting styles as a foundation for parenting tools – Pete Brown

Harnessing the power of relationships – using a systemic approach to support parents of children with social-communication difficulties – Amandine Mourière

Using positive parenting skills within a systemic framework: An interview with Caroline Penney – Caroline Penney and Miriam Chachamu

Think-throughs: A strategy for improving family relationships by increasing children’s cooperation – Noël Janis-Norton

Integrating systemic ideas when working with groups of parents of young people who have experienced sexual abuse and assault – Ashley Miller and Adriana Penalosa-Clarke

Reducing conflict between mothers and daughters as the teenage years emerge – Rosjke Hasseldine

How is diversity attended to by facilitators in the delivery of parenting programmes? Some reflections before and following a masters dissertation project – Anna Cullen

Some ideas about parenting advice, emotional connection and autism – Fiona Egan

Managing an ADHD group – a systemic-influenced parenting group – Penelope Denny, Sally Stephens and Katie Watson

What is Black History Month? Jennifer Achan, John Burnham, Sharon Evans, Shakira Maknoon, Anne-Marie Reid and Prudencia Woode

AFT diversity working party (DWP) ‘Race’ group: Are we making a difference and what difference are we making?  Jennifer Achan, John Burnham, Sharon Evans, Shakira Maknoon, Anne-Marie Reid and Prudencia Woode

Systemic practice in action: The parental mental health talk show – Noah Solarin

To survive and thrive in a multi-versa, Sharon became a ‘multi-persa’ and vice versa! Contributors: Anne-Marie Reid, Shakira Maknoon, John Burnham, Sharon Evans, Prudencia Woode and Jennifer Achan

AFT webinar series: Emotions, attachment and trauma in family therapy – a webinar by Rudi Dallos, 23 May 2023 – Report by Kate Woodrow-Cheong

AFT Scotland news

Sophie Lewis (2022) Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation. Verso. Review by Hazel Kent

Building bridges for peace – promoting peace and conflict resolution: A report on the AFT annual conference 2023 – Shan Tate and Erica Widdowson

AFT news

Contents snapshot

Editorial – Yoko Totsuka and Wendy Lobatto

Mining in a seam with props given: Working therapeutically with families outdoors – Charlie Chapman

Creative inspiration under gathering clouds: Milestones in the development towards systemic social work – Mark Chidgey

Managing endings in CAMHS: Using groups to support young people, families and clinicians to move on – Marie McBride and Vicki Curry

Systemic innovations in forensic mental health – Rakhee Haque, Joe Cottrell-Boyce, Manjit Sidhu and Aislinn Dunne Exploring improvisation in systemic leadership: Saying yes to the evolving creative messiness of leadership life – Sarah Helps

Systemic and organisational approaches to embedding meaningful use of outcome measures in CAMHS – Yoko Totsuka, Rachel Zwi, Ashley Peart, Janelle Spira and Georgina Aisbitt

Building a leadership library: Resources for systemic managers and leaders – Yoko Totsuka and Janis Griffiths

Single session thinking: Its global impact and role in therapeutic services – Katy Stephenson

Interruptions, interrupting, interrupted: Systemic interruption, pointed and un-pointed – Mara de Lacy

The person of the therapist – Anonymous

Narrative ethics: Becoming useful “second authors” as people enact the stories of their values and intentions – workshop with Jill Freedman and Gene Combs, 28 and 29 September, Luther King House, Manchester – Report by Lindsey Hampson

Asian Academy of Family Therapy 8th annual conference, Hong Kong 27-30 October 2023: Sit down, relax and have a cup of tea – Sarah Helps

AFT webinar series – Using SCORE therapeutically: Enhancing the client’s voice – a webinar by Claire Sammut, Charlotte Burck and Astrid Winkler, 9 November 2023 – Report by Sharon Pettle

AFT research scoping review – Naureen Whittinger

Matthew Ganda: ‘An unsung hero of the systemic community’ – Louise Durrant, Ian Lea and Claudia Foakes

AFT North East: Another fine mess – Laura Lane

AFT news