Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy最新文献

This article aims to show a process of systemic-constructionist and generative therapy in the face of crisis situations experienced by MM. MM is a woman victim–survivor from the region of Los Montes de María in Colombia, a territory hard hit by armed violence between 1990 and 2008. Methodologically, the fragments presented are those that are repeated in three sessions. Psychotherapeutic work is a combination of dialogical and interactive resources, opportunities, and capacities that combine three kinds of time in MM's daily life. These are: first, the past of the violence; second, the present comprised of the presence of memories of violence, social and family interactions, together with psychiatric diagnoses; and third, the sense of a future based on the hope of reducing their suffering and taking action against the violence. Analysis and interpretation are hermeneutical constructions carried out throughout the psychotherapeutic process and in the midst of generative dialogues. On the one hand, the scientific and everyday knowledge that helps to process and transform the crisis is recognised. On the other hand, it shows a form of knowledge that distances itself from the parameters of science and positivist approaches. In conclusion, this article is an opportunity to question traditional positions within the field of mental health in the light of moments constructed with MM in the framework of systemic-constructionist therapy, seen as a relational space where generative contexts are built.

This article describes our work at the interface between the legal and the psychosocial in relation to mental health needs arising in families. Working at the legal–psychosocial interface, interventions and treatment strategies are not given in advance but are built with all those involved, including the family and those who may be significant for the family as well as family therapists and judicial practitioners. In addition, psychology students from the UBA (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) who are engaged for their professional practice in the area of Justice—Working with Families in the Legal Field—observe and actively participate in this process. The work at the legal–psychosocial interface is interdisciplinary and requires a permanent dialogic effort among all practitioners of the different disciplines in order to promote alternatives that generate innovative solutions.

This article serves as a conversational and conceptual introduction to this special issue. It is written not in Latin America – as the other articles are – but in Australia and it is written by a Chilean who left Chile due to the ravages that the 16 year long dictatorship had on those lands. Using reflections on my experience – as a citizen and later as a student in psychology and in family therapy – both in that country and since, I touch on post-colonial issues and on epistemic violence to interrogate ‘invisibilities’ held in mainstream forms of knowledge in the field, invisibilities that come to us from the Western North. Using references to the work of Edward Said and Gabriel García Márquez, the article invites us to review core assumptions and postures in the conceptual frame of systemic work and proposes a methodology that supports alternative forms of knowledge – knowledges of the South – to forge a voice, a resistance to globalising tendencies that threaten to undermine the work we strive to do.

This article was inspired by a reflection on what unfolded with the COVID-19 virus, especially how it brought to light the interconnectedness of individual and collective well-being. This calls for a reassessment of the family therapy approach, which has traditionally focussed on the internal dynamics of the family to explain problems faced by individuals inside the family system without taking into account social, political and historical aspects. This approach, which is referred to in the article as ‘familialism,’ is challenged using the relational philosophy put forward by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, and a fresh viewpoint is also given from the concept of the ‘outside.’ This outside perspective seeks to prevent the family system from closing in on itself, allowing for the creation of open systems. By doing so, it is argued, it is possible to incorporate different elements of the social, political and historical order in therapeutic practice and prevent underestimating the complexity of the human experience.

The advent of COVID-19 as a global public health crisis in 2020 was quickly followed by predictions regarding likely increases in occurrences of domestic and family violence (DFV). The aim of this study was to understand the impact of the pandemic on practitioner experiences of DFV in one service organisation in New South Wales, Australia. Qualitative focus group interviews were performed with senior practitioners at Relationships Australia (NSW), and a grounded theory approach was employed in formulation of a perspective which highlighted social isolation under public health management social distancing measures as that which distinguished practitioner experiences of DFV during COVID-19. Social isolation was conceived as the overarching factor across categorisations of practitioner responses, including: (a) situations of client domestic relations; (b) client general life circumstances; (c) emerging client self-awareness; (d) organisational and social systems changes; and (e) necessary work practice changes. Organisational and workplace recommendations address the relative difference of pandemic management measures from natural disaster occurrences, with respect to supporting people experiencing DFV.

Few topics generate as much controversy and confusion in society, therapeutic practice, and science as violence in families, often referred to as domestic violence. There is a neverending dispute around the definition and about the statistics. Is relational violence mainly against women or are women as violent as men in intimate relationships? Outcomes from research are contradictory. When we zoom out, we can be aware that violence is everywhere and that we are part of it. At the same time, we can sense that the world is full of love. Both are part of the destructive dynamics of escalating conflicts in families that are more related to powerlessness than to power. In a therapeutic context we focus on the destructive dynamics in which the languages of perpetrator and victim are not helpful. We suggest the formulation of keystones as light posts to help us find a way to help family members to de-escalate conflict.

Intimate partner violence is a major problem in Australia, impacting many families that are on the cusp of disruption and intervention by the child protection system. Using an innovative method of inquiry, the article explores the role of dedicated men's workers in a South Australian non-government organisation's intensive family service that works towards keeping families safe and together. The dedicated men's worker positions are integrated into a multidisciplinary model that works with fathers who have been a part of situational violence within the family. The men's workers' (and co-authors') reflections offer insight into systemic barriers, practical therapeutic interventions, engagement work with fathers, how this is approached, and the various outcomes experienced. Blending auto-ethnography reflections, elements of rapid ethnographic assessment, and the use of rigorous and accelerated data reduction, we demonstrate the need for increased supports for some fathers. These should include therapeutic engagement and working with the underlying trauma of fathers to ensure the whole family is supported and offered opportunity for healing and sustainable preservation. We also consider the more encompassing lifeworlds of the men and the need to drive and support broader sociocultural shifts.

Men's behaviour change programs (MBCPs) are group programs for men using family violence. This preliminary evaluation examines participants' and facilitators' perceptions of a redeveloped MBCP. Participants reported significant improvements in their ability to manage stress, understand the impact of their use of violence, and apply skills to repair the impact of their use of violence. Facilitators reported that peer support was an important component contributing to changes in the participants' knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and behaviours. Preliminary findings indicate that the program could potentially influence men's perceptions of family violence and consequently promote the safety and wellbeing of women and children.