Workshop Program
The following workshops are offered at least once per annum. Please see our
timetable for workshops available in the next few months.
If the workshop you are most interested in is not available in the next few months please register
your interest as this can influence the prioritisation of our timetable.
Learner Centred Training
All workshops apply principles of adult learning, where trainers and participants
actively engage in the learning process using a variety of learning tools. The goal is to create
a training context that is relaxed, fun and draws on the knowledge and experience of participants
as well as trainers. Certificates are given for each program attended and can be applied to
Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirements for your professional membership.
All workshops held on site at Neutral Bay
Maximum 10 people per workshop (except where specifically noted)
Most courses are one day (9:00am to 4:30pm) unless otherwise stated.
$176 includes GST and reading pack Demystifying Family Systems Theory
(full abstract)
An Overview of Bowen`s Theory and Practice
Designed for mental health professionals, this workshop covers the historical development
of the model and recent applications and critiques.
Bowen`s 8 constructs
will be illustrated using movie excerpts and video material of interviews with Bowen.
Participants will explore how the model fits with other therapy approaches. A goal of the workshop is to
translate Bowen`s concepts into jargon free principles.
Clinical applications will be illustrated and explored.
This workshop is highly recommended as a foundation for our other training options and is a mandatory prerequisite for some of our other courses.
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The Application of Family Systems Theory
This workshop provides a framework for application of family systems concepts to client
assessments, and outlines the central interventions of creating a research approach, detriangling,
questions that invite differentiation and focussing on emotional process.
Topics covered include assessment of central triangles, levels of chronic anxiety,
triggers of reactivity, family adaptiveness, degree of emotional cut off, extended family stability,
socio-cultural issues and family life cycle phase. The how of Family Systems interventions will be
highlighted.
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Differentiation in Leadership
(full abstract)
This workshop is specifically geared to those in a managerial or co-ordination role in
the Helping Professions. It will explore the common dynamics of work systems under stress and help
the manager to identify their role in the emotional process. Bowen as director of the Georgetown
Family Centre believed that if there were problems in the dynamics of the workplace he needed to
consider his own part in the system and define himself in a more differentiated way.
His focus was always on changing self not others.
Systems theory will be applied to management dilemmas such as giving performance feedback,
inviting responsible team contribution, the side-taking challenge and leading with conviction and connection.
Participants will be involved in strategy groups for applying the principals to common workplace dynamics.
Video excerpts will be used to bring the ideas to life.
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Energising the Process of Supervision
(full abstract)
How Differentiation is Encouraged in the Supervision Relationship
A workshop for those supervising or preparing to supervise other therapists.
An approach to supervision will be presented that engages
the supervisor and supervisee in a collaborative
effort of research into emotional systems. The balance
of focusing on client process versus therapist - client process
will be central to the discussions. Case examples will be
used to illustrate common dilemmas in supervision such as
when to look at the therapists personal issues, how to encourage
more engagement in preparing for supervision, how to raise
issues of concern about practice, how to avoid supervision
ruts, over responsibility / under responsibility in the supervision
relationship and support for supervisee versus priority of
client duty of care. |
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Therapist on a Tightrope
(full abstract)
Dealing with Issues of Therapist Boundaries and Notions of Responsibility
This workshop explores the ever present challenge for therapists of remaining engaged with
clients without joining the clients` emotional system.
Becoming incorporated into the clients` emotional system can be a subtle process for both experienced
therapists as well as trainees.
This workshop will consider the family of origin contexts that prepare those in the helping
professions to over-function, rescue or take responsibility for others. The effects of therapist over
responsibility will be explored as well as the subtle warning signs such as extending sessions,
between session contact, ruminating about clients, doubting competence and making allowances for
client lateness.
Participants will be encouraged to recognise their own indicators and to develop strategies
for shifting to a role that invites clients to take responsibility for their change efforts
in collaboration with an engaged therapist.
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Going Home Again: Family Therapy with Individuals
(full abstract)
How does family systems theory apply to working with individuals in therapy?
What is Family of Origin Coaching and its relevance for the professional development of the therapist?
This workshop explores Family of Origin Coaching and its relevance for clinical
practice and the professional development of the therapist.
Family of Origin Coaching is geared to assisting a person
to define themselves clearly in their extended family emotional system.
It is considered helpful for clients and therapists alike as a path to
increasing differentiation, which is the capacity to function autonomously,
by making self directed choices, while remaining emotionally connected to
the intensity of the significant relationship system.
Topics covered include:
exploring the difference between a family systems approach to traditional
models of working with individuals in therapy;
expanding the view from the present to the previous generations;
researching triangle patterns across the generations;
identifying key reactive themes patterns and roles in the family of origin;
techniques of coaching such as letter writing, setting research and observation
tasks and preparing for acts of change.
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The Essentials of Couple Therapy
(full abstract)
Inviting each partner out of the fusion
This workshop will cover the central dilemmas to conducting couple
therapy including engaging clients in a goal focused therapy;
drawing out the process from the content of complaints; dealing
with power issues; avoiding side taking; and expanding the
therapy lens to the previous generations.
This will be a hands-on workshop that balances presentation of theory with essential skills for the therapist.
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For those who have completed the above course there is follow-on
workshop exploring new material.
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The Essentials of Family Therapy
(full abstract)
Beyond inviting family members
This workshop is for those who value working with the family context when dealing with individual symptoms but would like to fine tune their knowledge and skill of conducting family sessions. Participants will explore how to deal with heightened anxiety between family members, maintaining neutrality, constructing process oriented questions, dealing with safety issues, shifting the focus from individual pathology and giving helpful feedback. The focus will be on the doing of a family session which draws on clear systemic principles.
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Coaching Parents to Think Systems
(full abstract)
Parent education and therapy that shifts the intensity of child focus.
This workshop explores how the therapist can work with parents to facilitate a shift
from an anxious focus on the children, to using themselves as a leadership resource for their children.
Bowen`s concept of the Family Projection Process will form the theoretical backdrop to the workshop.
This describes how a parent`s "undifferentiation" from their own family of origin can be channelled
into an intense child focused projection which creates an emotional crowding effect for the child giving
them less emotional room to develop.
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