Amanda Middleton joins us to talk in depth about her keynote speech/article, Adventures in time, gender and therapeutic practice. Embracing a queer systemic way of working with gender expansive families.  Amanda shares with us ways to understand gender and sexuality that are away from binary discourses and we discuss why this matters for inclusive therapeutic practice. She takes us on an adventure about her work, projects and passions on utilising a queer systemic approach that is steeped...

This episode focuses on social constructionism with one of the leading figures in the field, Kenneth J. Gergen Ph.D. We hear about how radical the ideas were at the time of its conceptiopn and the people who believed in its contribution to psychology and supported its evolution. Ken tells us his personal and professional stories of the history and development of his key ideas within social constructionism alongside some of the challenges when sharing with the wider field.  Ken discussed the...

In this episode we discuss the Queensland Institute of Family Therapy's (QIFT) meta framework for integrative practice. Founders, Kate and Leonie talk about how practitioners are embracing and integrative approach and their experience of developing the framework.  Topics covered include: The main elements of the framework How integrative differs from traditional approaches in family therapy What it contributes to the wider systemic field Throughout the conversation we hear about case...

This episode is about Shadi Shahnavaz’s insightful book “Working systematically with refugee families and couples: exploring trauma, resilience and culture” We discuss areas such as: -Effects of trauma -Seeking therapeutic help -Cross cultural therapy -Refugees lived experiences -Frameworks for engaging & supporting families and couples Shadi guides us through her personal and professional journey of working in this area and enlightens her process with case studies and resonances to...

In this episode we speak with the much respect Dr Harry Aconite about his career, contributions and process of becoming and being a therapist.  He shares with us stories oh how he became interested in systemic practice and his early days in structural systemic family therapy. We take a deep dive with Harry as he discussed the key ideas that informs his approach, the important people who have helped shape his practice and the values that he holds in his therapeutic work.  This episodes...

Editor of The Journal of Family Therapy (JFT), Sarah Helps joins us to discuss the history, contribution & value of JFT. Sarah shares her passion for research and its important role in the systemic field. She shows how research can support practice through developing knowledge and deepen our understanding of process. She talks us through how to get involved with the journal and debunks  fear of creating meaningful research. The Journal of Family Therapy advances the understanding and...

Editor of The Journal of Family Therapy (JFT), Sarah Helps joins us to discuss the history, contribution & value of JFT. Sarah shares her passion for research and its important role in the systemic field. She shows how research can support practice through developing knowledge and deepen our understanding of process. She talks us through how to get involved with the journal and debunks  fear of creating meaningful research. The Journal of Family Therapy advances the understanding and...

In this episode we meet Francesca Balestra and Laura Fruggeri, two of the authors of the book Psychotherapeutic competencies: Techniques, relationships, and epistemology in systemic practice (2002).  We have the opportunity to hear about the importance and value of competencies through the exploration of technical, relational, epsitimolgical and social aspects of competencies.  The episode covers: - the Methodological principles of competencies -the 4 levels of systemic competencies...

Batja Mesquita, social psychologist,  affective scientist, and pioneer of cultural psychology joins us to talk about her wonderful book Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions (2022). In this episodes, we dive deep into the key ideas within the book and discuss the interplay with systemic ideas. Batja invites us to reconsider emotions as universal responses and takes an outside/in perspective on how emotions are created through culture. We discuss how this can be vital to understanding and...

In this episode,  we speak with Dr. Ruth Van Reken who is the co-authour of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, 3rd ed., and author of Letters Never Sent.  We explore Third Culture Kids (TCKs)—which refers to people raised in cultures different from their parents’ and who spent formative years in diverse environments. We delve into the psychological, social, and relational impacts, addressing identity, belonging, challenges, and the incredible advantages of a cross-cultural...

In this episode we talk with Hendrix Hammond about identity, the use of self, positioning and emotions in the therapeutic and organisational contexts. We expand on his AFT 2022 keynote speech where Hendrix shares his own journey and how this has informed him and is present in his values and ways of working in practice.  Hendrix Hammond bio: Hendrix is a Consultant Couple & Family Psychotherapist and Lead Family Therapist for a London Local Authority. He is a qualified AFT (Association...

In this episode we talk with Flavio Cannistra, Jeff Young and Katy Stephenson all about Single Session Therapy (SST). They share their professional experience and lived examples of the approach in action. We are introduced to the philosophy, key principles, benefits, challenges and ethics of SST and get an insight to how it can transform practice,  systems and how services are delivered.  Guests: Jeff Young (PhD) is Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a...

In this episode we meet with Robert van Hennik to discuss his professional doctorate titled: Practice Based Evidence Based Practice: Navigating Complexity in Feedback-informed Systemic Therapy.  Robert brings his ideas alive by talking us through his approach in a practical way. He eloquently shares how the theory is woven into practice through collaborative work with the systems, families, institutions, networks. Robert guides us through case examples and his own journey with this fantastic...

In this episode we speak with Dr. Viola Sallay and Dr. Tamás Martos about EMOTH a therapeutic tool they have created to support therapist in nurturing new ways of having conversations with families. They share the development, application and case examples allowing us to fully experience the possibilities of EMOTH. This expansive tool finds creative ways to bring home into the therapeutic space asking a new layer of possibilities with therapeutic work.  What is EMOTH? The map of family...

This episode is a reflective conversation bout the recent AFT symposium "Building Bridges" which took place in Birmingham in July 2023. We are joined by Jennifer Achan, Anokh Goodman, Sybil Qasir and Judy Sutton who share their experiences of the day from their personal and professional positions.  If you were unable to make it in person then we hope this gives you a flavour of the day and if you were there a reminder of the event. 

In this episode Parveen Kaur & Amy Urry join us to discuss an initiative by AFT to openly and collaboratively work with members on issues of diversity. They share the intentions of creating the DWPs, provide insights on what they are about and details on how to join. Parveen Kaur works as a Family & Systemic Psychotherapist in Community CAMHS for Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.  She practices as a clinical Supervisor on the MSc training programme at Birmingham and in...

In this episode we talk with Dr Travis Heath and discuss the book “Reimagining Narrative Therapy Through Practice Stories and Autoethnography by Travis Heath, Tom Carlson and David Epston. The heart of the book is a re embracing of the spirits of narrative practice through the teaching and learning of this approach. Travis invites us to explore the essence of the model through autoethnography, practice & teaching stories It’s a deep dive into the core of its inventive origins from...

Peter Rober returns onto the podcast to talk in detail about his JFT award winning paper ‘One step up, but not there yet’: using client feedback to optimise the therapeutic alliance in family therapy, where he and his co-authours talk about the integral role of collaboration and therapeutic alliance in achieving positive outcomes in therapy. In this episode Peter talks to us about the feedback instruments,  the origins of using feedback in his practice, the development of the tools. He ...

In this episode we meet with Graham Music, Consultant Child Psychotherapist and former Associate Clinical Director at the Tavistock Clinic in London. We discuss his career, his books as we dive into his ideas on the interplay between systemic thinking, attachment theory, developmental psychology and the new frontiers of neuroscience. We discussed this paper as a focus for the conversation: Music, G. (2019). Babies and bathwaters: attachment, neuroscience, evolution and the left. Soundings,...

Welcome to The Systemic Lens - our podcast where we geek out on systemic ideas and apply them to films, music, literature and pop culture.  In this episode we take on the magnificent film,  Everything Everywhere All At Once. Enjoy!

In this episode we speak with the ever inspiring Vikki Reynolds Phd who talks with us about her ongoing work and process of  social justice, direct action and activism. Vikki shares personal and professional insights on her commitment to justice doing, decolonisation and living and working in an ethical way. We hear her dedication to addressing inequality, power structures and discrimination through aligning her values with everyday actions and the importance of  sustaining oneself through...

In this episode we speak with systemic  and narrative psychotherapist, Sabine Vermeire who discusses in detail her approach to working with children, young people and their families and carers using an attachment narrative approach to nurture belonging and open up therapeutic possibilities. We discuss Sabine's  wonderful paper "No child is an island: from attachment narratives towards a sense of belonging" (2021) and take a deeper look at her process, hearing about her approach, theory, case...

In this episode we focus on the special issue in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT) which reviews the efficacy and effectiveness of couple and family therapy from the last decade. We speak with editors of the review Dr Andrea Wittenborn and Dr Kendal Holtrop who share their process and insights into collaborating on the reviews creation, the value of research in family therapy and using research to connect to real life practice. Wittenborn, A. K., &  Holtrop, K. (2022). ...

In this episode we speak with Kam Kaur (senior social worker/systemic practitioner) and Claire Field (social care consultant and managing director) as they share with us details of The Parenting Apart Programme. We hear about their personal and professional connections in developing  the programme and in working with separated parents in conflict. They share their wisdom and experience of how to support parents during these challenging and difficult processes as we get an insightful walk...