ANZJFT Volume 27 Number 4
December 2006Contents
| In Brief: Coming Events, Jottings and Announcements | |
| Editorial: Epistemology | Alistair Campbell |
| The Delicate Scientist Practitioner | Nick Drury |
| Introducing Evidence Based Family Assessment and Therapy in Child and Youth Mental Health Services. Applying Systemic Principles to Maintain, Sustain and Build Capacity | Ingrid Wagner, Glenn Munt and Peta Briner |
| Family Therapy Practitioners Researching the Reactions of Practitioners to an Outcome Measure | Peter Stratton, Marie McGovern, Annette Wetherell and Carol Farrington |
| Case-Based Research in Family Therapy | Frank Dattilio |
| When Baby Brings the 'Blues': Family Therapy and Postnatal Depression [Education Update] | Chris Hunt |
| South Australia's First Family Therapist: Jeff Gerrard Remembers: An Interview | Lorraine Read |
| Evidence-Based Treatment | Colin Murdoch MacKenzie |
| Letters to the Editors | Glenn Larner |
| Reviews: Independant comment on audio-visual and print materials | |
| Annual Index |
Abstracts & Sample Articles
In Brief: Coming Events, Jottings and Announcements
View article. [PDF format - 53KB]Editorial: Epistemology
by Alistair CampbellView article. [PDF format - 61KB]
The Delicate Scientist Practitioner
by Nick DruryView article. [PDF format - 122KB]
This paper offers an alternative understanding of the 'scientist-practitioner' in clinical practice. The 'dodo bird' hypothesis or 'common factors' findings suggest that the specific technique of a particular treatment protocol, whether supported or not by empirical validation, are not as important as feedback to the clinician as to whether this particular treatment is working or not. A new philosophy of science and cognition suggests that 'know-how' and 'withness-knowledge' is of more importance than any 'know-that' or 'aboutness' knowledge. 200 years ago Goethe suggested a method of science that was more focused on performativity than representationalism, which is being discovered again by postmodern science and philosophy. This model of science combined with Levinas' call for an ethics first approach can provide an alternative to the move towards treatment manuals.
Introducing Evidence Based Family Assessment and Therapy in Child and Youth Mental Health Services. Applying Systemic Principles to Maintain, Sustain and Build Capacity
by Ingrid Wagner, Glenn Munt and Peta BrinerView article. [PDF format - 193KB]
The purpose of this paper is to overview the context of the mental health service in which we work, and family therapy's status prior to and after the impact of changes wrought by the introduction of the National Mental Health Policy. We then explore some key issues that we think contribute to the persistence of the occlusion of family therapy in child psychiatric services; and the strategies that we developed and are continuing to develop to support change. Finally, we describe the use of a family assessment instrument that we believe is central to our change strategy.
Family Therapy Practitioners Researching the Reactions of Practitioners to an Outcome Measure
by Peter Stratton, Marie McGovern, Annette Wetherell and Carol FarringtonView article. [PDF format - 149KB]
Family therapy is under increasing pressure to use 'objective' measures of effectiveness, but there are strong voices in the field objecting to such research. The primary objective of this project was to investigate the acceptability and perceived potential usefulness of a short self-report questionnaire. A secondary objective was to explore the viability of conducting such research by a group of practitioners who would collaborate primarily through emails.
Case-Based Research in Family Therapy
by Frank DattilioView article. [PDF format - 99KB]
Traditionally, case-based research has not been considered as scientific by many in the field due to the lack of controlled conditions and objectivity. However, case-study material may be more effective than once believed in educating family therapists. Future implications of the role of case studies in family therapy research are considered, including the manner in which case studies might be designed to be more rigorous so that they can serve as the basis for drawing causal inferences in clinical cases, and at the same time, provide family therapists with useful information to improve their skills.
A discussion section highlights the future direction of case-based research in the family therapy literature and how it may be used as an effective learning tool.
When Baby Brings the 'Blues': Family Therapy and Postnatal Depression [Education Update]
by Chris HuntPostnatal depression impacts on a significant number of women and their families and, as a topic, is attracting much interest from researchers as we become clearer about its impact on the long-term mental health of both women and their partners, as well as on the couple's relationship and their children's mental health. This article will provide a brief overview of postnatal depression and the current research associated with it, and consider the usefulness of systemic family therapy interventions. Examples of these are included along with a clinical vignette.
South Australia's First Family Therapist: Jeff Gerrard Remembers: An Interview
by Lorraine ReadView article. [PDF format - 106KB]
Jeff Gerrard can claim the distinction of being the first family therapist in South Australia. Early on in his career as a psychiatrist he explored the growing field of psychotherapy overseas and observed, studied and trained with some of the historical greats in the area. When he returned to South Australia in the early 70s, it seems to have been a natural step for him to begin practising family therapy and training other health professionals in the theory and practice of family therapy. The early training that Jeff led at the South Australian Children's Hospital enabled a cooperation between a number of early family therapists such as Michael White and Anne Sved Williams, to train the first cohort of people who would later go on to become significant contributors to the family therapy field in Australia. In this interview, Lorraine Read invites Jeff to explore his early contributions to the field and to discuss the training and supervision experiences which were/are important in his development as a family therapist.
Evidence-Based Treatment
by Colin Murdoch MacKenzieView article. [PDF format - 84KB]
Letters to the Editors
by Glenn LarnerView article. [PDF format - 42KB]
Reviews: Independant comment on audio-visual and print materials
View article. [PDF format - 88KB]Annual Index
View article. [PDF format - 59KB]