Learning and Teaching Systemic Therapy cover art

Learning and Teaching Systemic Therapy

Learning and Teaching Systemic Therapy

By: Society for the Teaching of Marriage and Family Therapy
Listen for free

About this listen

 Welcome to the Society for the Teaching of Marriage and Family Therapy (STMFT) podcast hosted by Dr. Sofia Georgiadou. Dr. Sofia facilitates dialogues between seasoned Marriage and Family Therapy educators and PhD students. The experienced MFT Educator(s) respond to questions PhD students in CFT/MFT have about becoming effective CFT/MFT educators. Our podcast is open to systemically trained educators of all ranks in the United States, Australia, Canada, Latin America, Africa, and Europe. The podcast’s goal is to create informal, publicly available, mentorship opportunities and enhance PhD students’ knowledge of pedagogy, culturally responsive learning design, as well as effective teaching of CFT/MFT courses. The Society for the Teaching of Marriage and Family Therapy is the official MFT Educators’ Division of the Coalition of Associations for Systemic Therapy (https://coastmft.org). Join our FB group for the Society for the Teaching of Marriage and Family Therapy (STMFT): https://www.facebook.com/groups/stmft Consider joining COAST to support our programming and upcoming initiatives: https://coastmft.org/membership/ Try the powerful automatic editing tools of Descript (I use it to edit and produce my podcast within minutes): https://get.descript.com/drsofiaCopyright 2025 All rights reserved. Education Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Ep 12: Experiential Learning in Systemic Therapy: An Australian Perspective with Dr. Kate Owen

    Ep 12: Experiential Learning in Systemic Therapy: An Australian Perspective with Dr. Kate Owen
    Jul 30 2025
    Today's very special guest is Dr. Kate Owen! Dr Kate Owen is a Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Family Therapist based in Australia. She runs a private practice supporting individuals, couples, and families, and provides clinical supervision to practitioners, and both government and non-government mental health and counselling teams. With a passion for integrative systemic psychotherapy, Kate delivers professional development training across Australia, offering workshops on foundational and advanced family therapy skills, trauma-informed practice, and self-care for helping professionals. She consults to hospital and health districts to support the integration of systemic thinking and practice into public mental health services. Kate has presented at both national and international conferences and co-authored a publication on systemic integrative practice in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy. She has previously run an accredited family therapy training company that supported professionals in gaining their qualifications as Clinical Family Therapists, and has taught in university settings. Kate is committed to supporting the next generation of clinicians through engaging, reflective, and practice-based learning. In addition to her in-person work, she creates online courses and practical resources designed to help professionals deepen their skills and confidence in systemic and trauma-informed practice. She is the creator of the Keep Calm Cards, along with a range of other tools developed to support clinical application and reflective practice. Dr. Kate Owen's website is: www.drkateowen.com Dr. Kate Owen's socials: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkateowen/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/drkateowen Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/drkateowen/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@drkateowen Some of Dr. Kate Owen's teaching ideas can be viewed here. Questions we discussed in this episode: Your workshop descriptions stress an experiential, interactive teaching style, making “complex theory easy to grasp”. I’d love for you to speak to any specific classroom modalities you rely on to achieve this. For example, do you use role-plays, video demonstrations, small-group exercises or live family therapy demonstrations, and how have these methods helped students link systemic theory to clinical practice in your courses?Specifically, how do you use metaphors or stories in your workshops to deepen understanding? Could you give us an example?In your clinical and supervisory work, you have emphasized that systemic therapy is “not about the number of people in the room” and outlined key principles (context, circular causality, systemic alliance) even when working one-on-one. How do you translate those principles into interactive learning? In your Systemic Integrative Practice masterclass, you introduce a “meta-framework” to help clinicians adapt their interventions to each client’s unique context. How do you present this advanced concept to practitioners who already know the basic family therapy models? Do you use case studies, process mapping, or visual aids when teaching this framework, and how do you help your learners balance multiple models (systems, narrative, etc.) in a coherent way?Your teaching integrates trauma-informed and neuroscience-informed approaches. For example, your Working Safely with Families & Trauma workshop weaves together sensorimotor, mindfulness, EFT, and attachment perspectives. How do you help learners make sense of this broad material? I would love to know more about your systemic supervision groups. Specifically, with the shift to online training, how have you adapted your supervision approach, for example, using reflecting teams via Zoom?You also run training and professional development for schools and those in the Education system. In your educator workshops, what kinds of hands-on resources or activities do you use to teach systemic ideas?
    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
  • Ep 11: The Power of Deliberate Practice in Training Therapists w/ Dr. Tony Rousmaniere, Rocky Allemandi and Olivia Ng

    Ep 11: The Power of Deliberate Practice in Training Therapists w/ Dr. Tony Rousmaniere, Rocky Allemandi and Olivia Ng
    Jun 5 2025
    On the podcast today we have Dr. Tony Rousmaniere, Rocky Allemandi and Olivia Ng from Sentio University. Resources for Deliberate Practice: Sentio University Free Resources on DP: https://sentio.org/innovation DP exercises from Sentio University: https://sentio.org/dpexercises DP research articles: https://sentio.org/dpresearch Sentio Youtube Channel Playlists: https://www.youtube.com/@sentiochannel/playlists Published Books on Deliberate Practice in Various Therapy Modalities by the APA: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/browse?query=title:D Asynchronous course on Deliberate Practice: https://darylchowcourses.teachable.com/p/dpforbetterresults Participant Bios: Tony Rousmaniere, Psy.D. is the President of Sentio University, and the Executive Director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He is also Past-President of the psychotherapy division of the American Psychological Association, and the author of over 20 books on Deliberate Practice and psychotherapy training, including the book series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). In 2017 he published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, “What your therapist doesn’t know”. Dr. Rousmaniere supports the "open data" movement towards making clinical outcome data available to consumers, policy-makers, and researchers by publishing his clinical outcome data on his website. He is a licensed psychologist in California and Washington. Rocky Allemandi, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California and a certified Deliberate Practice Supervisor through the International Deliberate Practice Society. He currently holds the position of Program Manager for Santa Cruz County Children’s Behavioral Health and serves as Adjunct Faculty in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Sentio University. Rocky brings extensive experience within the public mental health system, having served in various capacities including clinician, clinical supervisor, and program manager. He is strongly committed to the advancement of high-quality mental health care and is dedicated to the training and professional development of emerging clinicians, with an emphasis on compassionate, accessible, and evidence-informed service delivery. Olivia Ng is a 22-year-old graduate student at Sentio University. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she has spent the past five years living in Southern California. Her experience at Sentio has given her a deeper understanding of the global psychology community, and she feels honored to be part of it. Olivia earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Chapman University in May of last year. Prior to Sentio University’s official launch, she participated in a short internship with the institution. During that time, she was introduced to the concept of deliberate practice, which sparked her curiosity and made her realize what sets Sentio apart from other programs. At the conclusion of the internship, she was offered the opportunity to join Sentio as a student and enrolled immediately following her undergraduate studies. In this episode, we explored questions about Deliberate Practice and how it can be integrated in MFT training programs. We also discussed Sentio University’s Clinic to Classroom or C2C method of teaching. The C2C method brings real clinical work into our learning environment as therapists. How are live sessions, real cases, or practice elements integrated into your C2C curriculum, and how does this differ from traditional simulation or review of raw data in clinical supervision? Studies suggest even short exposure to DP can significantly increase empathy and clinical competence. How would you describe your experiences with DP and C2C method to a student peer from another program? Have you noted/tracked any measurable changes in your skill application, confidence, or case outcomes?What resistance or challenges have you encountered from instructors unfamiliar with performance-based supervision, and how do you support their transition? Could you share more about any challenges (or the learning curve) you faced when adopting DP methods?Another common concern about DP is that some folks are concerned it could force trainees to adopt a specific style of therapy and turn trainees into "therapy robots". Have you heard this concern from students and/or clinician colleagues? What are your thoughts, observations and strategies in relation to this concern when teaching using DP? Sentio’s Deliberate Practice Exercise Library and Innovation Lab offer many resources like specific skill-building scenarios and practice videos. How can MFT educators leverage them across asynchronous online delivery formats? Is it possible to use DP in asynchronous online courses and how? We are seeing rapid advances in AI-powered tools that can code therapy process data things like turn-taking, affect shifts, reflective statements at scale and with speed that was previously impossible (e.g. systems...
    Show More Show Less
    47 mins
  • Ep 10: Training systemic therapists from a decolonial perspective: Dr. Ashley Hicks & Danielle Barcelo

    Ep 10: Training systemic therapists from a decolonial perspective: Dr. Ashley Hicks & Danielle Barcelo
    Apr 6 2025
    In this episode of the Learning and Teaching Systemic Therapy Podcast, listeners are introduced to the amazing Dr. Ashley Hicks and Danielle Barcelo, a PhD candidate in MFT. Our discussion centers on decolonizing systemic therapy within our educational practices. Dr. Hicks provides us with wonderful examples of activities from her own MFT courses. She teaches with a focus on cultivating critical consciousness and examining biases in ourselves, as well as our foundational models. She also shares her strategies for navigating institutional constraints on curriculum, handling student resistance, and effectively using self-disclosure in therapy and education. We discuss creating community agreements, creating fertile ground for open discussions on race and identity, and advancing our own and our students' cultural humility in therapeutic practices. Dr. Ashley Hicks' bio: Ashley A. Hicks, PhD, IMFT-S is a licensed marriage and family therapist, AAMFT approved supervisor, researcher, consultant, speaker, and teacher. She is Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the OSU Couple and Family Therapy Clinic at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Ashley is the founder of Our Lineage Our Legacy LLC and she offers trainings and presentations at the local, state, and national level to mental health providers, healthcare providers, clergy, community and government groups to address mental health concerns such as disordered eating, anti-Black racism, race-based stress, trauma informed and focused care. Ashley has worked in several clinical settings with diverse populations including racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ populations, homeless and those experiencing poverty. Her clinical practice and research focus primarily on the needs Black individuals and families including womxn and those struggling with body image and eating concerns. Danielle Barcelo's bio: Our PhD in MFT student guest we have with us today is Danielle Barcelo. She is a PhD Candidate at National University, a fully online COAMFTE-accredited program where she is getting her PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialization in Children and Adolescents. Danielle is completing her dissertation on High-Conflict Post-Divorced or Separated Co-Parents and their impact on children, adolescents, co-parents, and other systems. Danielle is a LMFT in Colorado, where she received her MA-MFT, as well as two post-master's certificates, one in Counseling Children and Adolescents, that prepares you to become a Play Therapist and another in Depth Psychotherapy. Danielle is also an AAMFT Approved Supervisor Candidate. She is a Latinx Group practice owner, therapist, and supervisor in Denver, Colorado, where she was born and raised. Danielle identifies as a Hispanic/Mexican American/Chicana and Native American female. Danielle has over 10 years in the field working primarily with underserved populations. Danielle is continuing to grow her practice and has 15 therapists in her practice, 2 supervisors, an office manager, and a health and wellness coach. Questions we explored in this episode (sourced by Danielle Barcelo): How do you personally decolonize MFT teaching in your own teaching? What are some examples on how you do that in your own teaching?How do you appropriately self-disclose as the self/person-of-the-professor relating to decolonization of MFT teaching. How do you handle when something at the institution level is “out of your hands/control” so to speak, when it comes to how colonization influences curriculum and structure of teaching MFT?How do you partner with students on decolonization of MFT teaching?What kind of community involvement is included in decolonization of MFT teaching?How do you talk about white power and privilege, oppression, racism, bias, etc. in MFT teaching? Resources by Dr. Ashley Hicks: Alexander, M. (2020). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness (10th anniversary ed.). The New Press.Boyd-Franklin, N. (2006). Black families in therapy: Understanding the African American experience (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.Deliberate Practice in Systemic Therapy: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/deliberate-practice-systemic-family-therapyLocation of Self: Opening Doors to Dialogue on Intersectionality in the Therapy Process: https://www.ackerman.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Watts-Jones-Dee-Location_of_Self.pdfBringing Location into the therapy room (video): Dr. Thandiwe Dee Watts Jones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGIW8xANdCwSociocultural Attuned Therapy Article: Knudson-Martin C, McDowell T, Bermudez JM. From Knowing to Doing: Guidelines for Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy. J Marital Fam Ther. 2019 Jan;45(1):47-60. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12299. Epub 2017 Nov 10. PMID: 29125887. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29125887/
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
No reviews yet