#7 October 2009

A word from the President

Welcome to the 7th EFTA Newsletter! We do hope you will find items for your interest. You will see we have more articles from colleagues in different countries. We welcome this development, and very much hope it will encourage more of you to send in your articles. You will see we have indicated the language of each article on the title heading, in response to a suggestion from one of our members.

We also have news of EFTA activities, so that you can keep up-to-date with the work of the different EFTA Boards and committees. Please let us know your priorities as we wish to take action in ways that help all our communities and constituencies.

And, finally, remember to put the date of the forthcoming EFTA conference in your diary: 29-31 October, 2010, Paris, France.

With all good wishes

Arlene Vetere
President EFTA

Articles in several languages (English, Español, Français, Português)

Anne Chouhy (Français/English)

Paramètres de Développement dans la Formation à la Thérapie Familiale: le processus d’appropriation de l’histoire familiale du thérapeute (PDF 268 Kb)
In “Cahiers Critiques de Thérapie Familiale et de Pratiques de Réseaux” N°41, 2008/2, pages 51 à 68.

Developmental Parameters in Family Therapy Training: The appropriation process of the therapist’s family history (PDF 232 Kb)
In “Human Systems”, Volume N°19, Issue 3, 2008, pp. 240-259

Roberto Pereira, Lorena Bertino (Español)

Una Comprensión Ecológica de la Violencia Filio-Parental (PDF 140 Kb)
In Redes, 21: 69-90.

A-M. Portugal, I.M. Alberto (Português)

O Papel da Comunicação no Exercício da Parentalidade: desafios, especificidades e comunalidades (PDF 292 Kb)
Paper presented in the context of the Interuniversitary Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology – Family Psychology and Family Intervention (University of Coimbra and University of Lisbon, Portugal).

Olivier Trioullier (Français)

Répondre à l’urgent ou à l’important ? (PDF 28 Kb)

Systemic practices in times of social change

NFTO representatives discuss developments in their countries, during their Leipzig chamber meeting in June

In Leipzig last June in our NFTO chamber meeting, we turned our focus of discussion at what happens in our respective societies, that is brought forth in the ‘breaking news’ in each country and comes into our therapy and training rooms. With the same intention -that of listening carefully at societal events as reflectors of how society is developing -, we had organized our NFTO symposium two years ago at the EFTA Glasgow conference. Participants worked in small groups with enthusiasm and produced short presentations on the common themes that we all had previously agreed upon as most important, paving the way for interesting workshops and symposia in the upcoming EFTA Paris Conference next October. You may read some of these paragraph presentations below.

Mina Polemi-Todoulou (Secretary – NFTO Chamber)

Changing Demographics in Family Structure (PDF 56 Kb)
by Funda Baysal, Sirpa Lindroos, Monica Whyte

Values in postmodern times: a challenge for the family therapist (PDF 80 Kb)
by K. Hahn, R. Meregalli, A.P. Relvas, R. Traube, A.Vansteenwegen

News

Family Therapy and Systemic Practice Professoriate Meeting at the EFTA Congress, Paris 29-31 October, 2010

Dear Colleagues,

EFTA would like to convene a meeting of trainers and academics who hold employment positions as university professors, either in family therapy or related health and social care disciplines. We want to explore whether it could be useful to set up a nework of the systemic professoriate to further issues of mutual interest and concern. For example, EFTA has long held the wish to support the development of a European Chair in Family Therapy and Systemic Practice in co-operation with university partners. This and other matters can be debated at the meeting. If you are interested in attending, please let me know (). Details of the time and venue will be circulated at a later date, with more information about the Paris Congress.

With good wishes,

Arlene Vetere

Création du Réseau IS3G, Institut Systémique 3ème Génération

Ouverture d’une formation pour les intervenants et les thérapeutes auprès des publics en mutation du 21ème siècle : Cerveau, famille, société. Vers une nouvelle systémique… (lire la suite)

About Greece

Where are we today, nine months after last December’s youth riots?

By Mina Todoulou, HELASYTH Chair

Election time in Greece and all the important topics of our society come again to the forefront. The signatures of the new government have not dried yet and the first signs of protest start to appear…
Read this introductory note to the below interviews (PDF 68 Kb)

Ex profundis. What did the psychotherapist see?

By Costas Raptis, Journalist SKAI.gr, 21/12/2008

Public speech was given to many for the event that followed the murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos. But not to those who were in the position to know what simmered under the surface. From those that articulated speech (or simply screams) in the media, with respect to the cataclysmic sequence of events that followed Alexandros Grigoropoulos’ murder, there was a characteristic absence of a scientific view, more importantly of those that through their object of study and experience, are in a position to know something more about conflicts, dead-ends, orientation crises, collective rage.

Nevertheless: many Greek psychotherapists, (to only focus on those) were in a position to see, from quite a time back, through the privacy of their offices, a lot of what was simmering under the surface before it was exposed to common view in an explosive way. Seeking therefore a deeper look to the experience of these days and taking the opportunity of certain “evil” coincidences” we give the speech to them and also to a political scientist who was invited to cross-roads with their explorations.
Read the text in Greek (PDF 228 Kb)

“….What we really need are contexts conducive to the nurturing of vision, ‘nurseries of vision’ personal and shared….”

Costas Raptis interviewed Mina Polemi-Todoulou, president of the Hellenic Association for Systemic Therapy -HELASYTH, for SKAI.gr newspaper, 21/12/2008, right in the middle of Greek youth riots.
Read the interview in Greek (PDF 268 Kb), in English (PDF 80 Kb)

“We should contain our opposites”

Costas Raptis interviewed Haritini Karra, member of the Scientific Meetings’ Committee of HELASYTH, for SKAI.gr newspaper, 21/12/2008
Read the interview in Greek (PDF 208 Kb), in English (PDF 36 Kb)

The Breaking of the Family’s Social contract

Interview of Christoforos Vernardakis, Ph.D., Political Scientist, by journalist Costas Raptis, 21/12/2008, SKAI.gr
Read the interview in Greek (PDF 264 Kb), in English (PDF 64 Kb)

About UK

Social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently published a quick reference guide presenting the recommendations made in Promoting young people’s social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education (download PDF 92 Kb)

Recent publications / Publications récentes

Enfants et adolescents en mutation

Mode d’emploi pour les parents, éducateurs, enseignants et thérapeutes
Jean -Paul Gaillard, ESF Editeur, Paris 2009.

Don D. Jackson: Interactional Theory in the Practice of Therapy

Selected Papers/Volume 2
Edited by Wendel A. Ray. Foreword by Paul Watzlawick. Prologue by Carlos Sluzki. 2009

Paul Watzlawick

Insight may cause blindness AND OTHER ESSAYS
Edited by Wendel A. Ray and Giorgio Nardone, 2009.

From Germany

SG und DGSF present their internet platform systemisch-forschen.de

Systemische Gesellschaft (systemic association, SG) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Systemische Familientherapie (German association for systemic family therapy, DGSF) are presenting a common innovative project in German-speaking countries: the internet platform systemisch-forschen.de which is available under the same address (http://www.systemisch-forschen.de). The supply is in German. More…

SG und DGSF stellen Internetplattform systemisch-forschen.de vor
Die Systemische Gesellschaft und die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Systemische Familientherapie (DGSF) veröffentlichen im Juli 2009 ein im deutschsprachigen Raum innovatives Projekt: Gemeinsam betreiben sie die Internetplattform systemisch-forschen.de, die von den beiden Fachverbänden gemeinsam finanziert wird. Mehr…

7th EFTA COngress Paris October 2010

60 years of family therapy, 20 years of EFTA… and after? New ways for systemic practice

The European Family Therapy Association (E.F.T.A.) at the time of its 7th congress, which is also the French Family Therapy Association (S.F.T.F.) congress, invites you to discover the diversity of systemic practices. These are constantly happening in a social landscape undergoing profound change.
Preprogram
Call for abstract

60 ans de thérapie familiale, 20 ans d’EFTA… et après? Nouvelles perspectives pour la pratique systémique

L’association Européenne de Thérapie Familiale (E.F.T.A.) à l’occasion de son 7ème congrès, qui sera aussi celui de la Société Française de thérapie Familiale (S.F.T.F.), vous invite à découvrir la diversité des pratiques systémiques qui ne cessent d’apparaître dans un paysage social en pleine mutation.
Préprogramme
Appel à présentation

Proposition de symposium sur la thérapie familiale de l’enfant

Chers collègues,

Seriez-vous intéressés à co-présenter à Paris un symposium sur la thérapie familiale de l’enfant? Si oui, je vous transférerai la proposition que j’ai déjà soumise individuellement pour un atelier. Mon propos est de démontrer comment la thérapie familiale est simple et ludique. Mon approche est interactive, symbolique et parentale, toujours centrée sur les intérêts et outils de l’enfant.

Raymond Traube, Président SISTEMICA (Fédération des associations suisses de thérapie familiale et intervention systémique)

News from EFTA-CIM / Nouvelles d’EFTA-CIM

Next EFTA congress: an opportunity!!

Dear EFTA-CIM members,

Our next congress is coming rapidly. Within a few weeks, you will receive the programme along with the registration form. If this congress is our congress, it will be, I hope, the opportunity to make our colleagues discover the richness of the last developments in systemic approach and family therapy. Register now with numerous friends and colleagues !! I also warmly encourage the members of EFTA-CIM to propose workshop gathering on a same topic 2 or 3 members from different countries in order to stimulate our European reflexions !

In France, the recognition of the title of psychotherapist continued with a decree on enforcement of a law far from satisfactory compared to the requirements of professional associations with which EFTA collaborates. For more information, visit the website of the FF2P www.ff2p.fr.

If, in other countries, laws regulating psychotherapy are being elaborated, please let us know.

I thank the German associations for having signed the agreement allowing their members to join EFTA-CIM directly from their national association. What a pleasure to count on the German therapists to widen the influence of EFTA-CIM to the different European Countries.

Very cordially,

Jacques Pluymaekers,
Chairman of EFTA-CIM
Lire le texte en français

News from EFTA-TIC

A brief report of the 5th Meeting of Trainer, Poland, Oct 2-4, 2009

The recent EFTA-TIC trainers’ conference in Krakow was the fifth in the series. It continued the tradition now well established by previous events in Barcelona, Florence, Rhodes and Toulouse of small-scale but high standard learning events where teachers and trainers can share their latest thinking and give each other feedback.

The purpose is to provide a platform for learning and exchange between teacher-practitioner-researchers using concurrent small interactional workshops as the principal medium. These are linked together by short plenaries where brief workshop reports are given. The scale of the event is such that it is possible to network and meet most of the participants over the course of the weekend if wished.

There are relatively few contexts in which trainers have the opportunity to interact with their peers and this is the key rationale for this EFTA-TIC series which has become a regular feature of the EFTA calendar in each of the two years between Congresses.

Krakow was attended by 80 delegates from 32 Institutes in 20 countries… READ MORE

by Phil Kearney

News from EFTA-NFTO

Report from annual meeting in Leipzig, June 2009

The chamber had it’s annual meeting in Leipzig on 12th to 14th of June. Once again we worked very well together.

– The questionnairy concerning updating the NFTO profile: Until now, we have received around ten answers to the questionnaire. In the meeting Javier Bou showed the first summary of the information gathered so far. This information can be very useful in trying to understand the overall situation of family therapy in different countries. So, dear friends, the board wants to remind you the importance of filling and sending the NFTO Profile Questionnaire. Please, we would like to present the report in the next chamber meeting. The new deadline for answering is 30.11.2009. Please send your answers to Javier Bou.

− The essentials-text: The text arguing for family therapy’s evidence base and introducing the approach can be found from NFTO website. David Skorunka, with the help from the NFTO chamber working group has written the text and it’s meant to be used in the countries to promote family therapy. As was talked in the meeting, you can add important references from your own country or change the text to meet the local needs. Also, for your information, for example AFT in UK and the Dutch association have written also shorter texts about What is family therapy?, aimed more at informing the public. You will find these from the websites of the associations. You might want to use them as a help, if you are planning to write something similar in your own country.

− Social changes and what can family therapy and systemic practice offer: This was the theme of the meeting and the working groups worked around this topic creating texts for EFTA newsletter and starting to plan the NFTO event in Paris congress. Groups worked around themes of marginalization, violence, relationship between generations, values and supporting to supporters. The groups did excellent work and we are looking forward to hearing and reading more about it. Mina Todoulou is collecting ideas concerning the NFTO symposium, which will include the themes mentioned above. Also, we encourage you to think about collaborative symposia around a topic that you are interested in. You can use the NFTO network and invite family therapists from different countries to join in planning a join symposium. If you have an idea, please email Mina, and she will forward the suggestion to all NFTO representatives.

− Research: Collaboration around research is moving forward. Already thirteen countries expressed there intrest in this collaboration. You will soon recieve detailed information from the EFTA research committee.

− The next meeting of NFTO chamber will be held in Lisbon, Portugal on 28.-30.5.2010. Please notice the dates, the meeting will take place two weeks earlier than usually, due to national holidays in June in Portugal. In the Lisbon meeting we will, among other things, talk about the next election of EFTA board members, which will take place in Paris congress. You will receive information about the election in the beginning of the year 2010.

With best wishes,

Eija-Liisa Rautiainen
Chair person – NFTO chamber

P.S.: A report was also published by Maria Borcsa on the website of the Systemische Gesellschaft in English, auf deutsch

Contact us

For any contributions, comments, … Do not hesitate to contact us!

President of EFTA: Professor Arlene Vetere
EFTA Secretariat : Fabienne Dardenne