Patterns of Learning in Family Therapy Training

Abstract

This study presents the results of an evaluation of two cohorts of trainees who had completed a 2-year training program in family therapy. The 15 trainees were assessed in the areas of perceptual/conceptual, intervention/executive skills and personal development both pre- and post-training. Although the group results showed skill acquisition in all areas assessed, the individual results revealed a complexity in performance glossed over by the group analysis. Trainees' learning commenced from different baselines, advanced at different rates, and there was a marked discrepancy between self-reports of improvements (or otherwise) and the results of the observer-rated measures. We recommend that increasing attention be paid to individual differences in learning styles in training and in evaluation.

The reflecting team as a reflection of second order therapeutic ideals

“…Previous research by Perlesz, Stolk, and Firestone (1990) and Stolk and Perlesz (1990) suggests that feedback from client families to the trainee therapists in the second year of training is consistently more negative than in the first year of training. In explaining this decrease in client satisfaction from the first to the second year of training, the authors wondered whether:…”

Courses in Family Therapy for General Practitioners: Identifying Learning Objectives

“…We have used case vignettes (Byles, Bishop & Horne, 1983;Perlesz, Stolk & Firestone, 1990) as assessment tools for our family therapy courses by distance education since 1994. The individual vignette, 'John Smith', has been used to assess the learning of 85 doctors participating in family therapy courses, and the mother-child vignette, 'Debbie and her mother' has been used with 125.…”

What the Problem May Be With Family Intervention … and With Dissemination More Generally: A Commentary

“…Small and often non-significant correlations between reported and observed competence have repeatedly been observed in previous studies on practitioners (Chevron & Rounsaville, 1983;Mathieson, Barnfield, & Beaumont, 2010), including research on observer-and self-ratings after training in family therapy (Perlesz, Stolk, & Firestone, 1990). Sometimes, overestimations are seen (Brosan, Reynolds, & Moore, 2008);sometimes underestimations (McManus, Rakovshik, Kennerley, Fennell, & Westbrook, 2012)-presumably at least partly because of differential perceived consequences of over-and underestimation in a particular context.…”