|
|
Essential Skills in Family Therapy Certificate ProgramInstructor: Dr. Kwan, Ph.D., RMFT, C.Psych.
The family unit is the primary social organization that is responsible for facilitating human growth. It is within this human relationship context where individuals’ sense of nurturance, security, and learning is flourished or hindered. Family therapy not only offers a therapeutic means to work with families, more importantly it offers an alternate conceptual perspective in understanding the problems of individuals’ behaviours. Family therapy is grounded in principles of systems theory, in which the family unit is viewed as a socio-cultural system. That is, the family must be understood as a whole rather the collection of individuals. The dynamic interactions with the family play a vital role in the psychological functioning of family members. Family therapy focuses on altering recursive patterns of relating and restrictive life stories.
The significance of family and couple work in the practice of psychotherapy has gained substantial recognition in recent years. As family therapy becomes an integral part of clinical practice, it remains important to put emphasis on learning its unique conceptual foundations, as well as developing competency in the application of the therapeutic knowledge and skills.
Course Description:
Essential Skills in Family Therapy Certificate Program is designed for practitioners to begin with the basics of family therapy. The goal is to provide participants the essentials to facilitate their clinical work with families.
Other areas to be covered include communication, parenting, family life distress, addiction, domestic violent, and mental health issues in respect to the family development stages, intensity of conflict, and nature of disorders. The larger context of power, gender, culture, class, and sexual orientation will be considered.
The course is both conceptual and experiential with a strong emphasis in practice. Learning is a collaborative and participatory process. The goal of the course is to foster a safe and stimulating learning environment that welcomes multiple perspectives and experiences.
The Essential Skills in Family Therapy Certificate Program consists of the successful completion of three of the four courses listed below for a total of 39 hours of instruction. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 or Part 1, Part 2 and Part 4 will qualify for the Certificate Program. All courses are designed as individual workshops or as a certificate program.
Part 1:
Essentials of Family Therapy: Basic Concepts and Clinical Applications
This 2-day course will provide an overview of the current theories and research in family therapy and its implication to clinical practice. The following topics will be covered:
- Current theoretical and empirical understanding of families from a systemic perspective
- Clinical considerations in the application of family therapy
- Family life cycle and developmental challenges
- Core ingredients in family therapy across therapeutic models
- Core therapeutic skills in family therapy
- How to structure family therapy sessions: From intake to termination
Date: September 17-18, 2010.
Click Here to Register
[Click here] to view the course schedule
Part 2:
Essentials of Family Therapy: Essential Skills
Prerequisites: Part 1 or equivalent
This 2-day course will present essential skills in family therapy. Participants will learn how to implement the strategies in family therapy using role play and small group practice. The following topics will be covered: - Working with mildly distress families – clinical issues in assessment, case formulation, and intervention
- Working with moderately distressed families – clinical issues in assessment, case formulation, and intervention
- Working with severely distressed families – clinical issues in assessment, formulation and intervention
- Assessment and treatment consideration for relational disorders and mental health issues
- Self care and being an effective family therapist
Date: TBA
Part 3:
Essentials of Family Therapy: Case-Based Learning
Prerequisites: Part 1 or equivalent and Part 2
During this 2-day course, participants will learn to apply their core knowledge and essential skills by discussing actual case scenarios and engaging in role plays.
The following topics will be covered:
- Involvement, closeness and relationship distress
- Family transition and developmental distress
- Separation & divorce
- Abuse & trauma
- Addiction
- Domestic violence
- Mood & anxiety disorders
- Personality disorders
- Multi-problems
Date: TBA
Part 4:
Essentials of Family Therapy: Clinical Application in Actual Practice
Prerequisites: Part 1 or equivalent, Part 2
This longitudinal 6-week course (3-hour sessions) will be a practical, hands-on course, providing an opportunity for participants to share cases drawn from their own clinical practice. With client consent, participants will bring in actual data (e.g. audio or videotape of sessions) and use these recordings for consultation in small groups.
Date: TBA
About the Instructor:
Dr. Kenneth Kwan is the Founder and Executive Director of Oshawa Psychological & Counselling Services serving Oshawa and surrounding communities in Durham Region, and of Woodbine Psychological & Counselling Services serving Markham and surrounding communities in York Region. He recently spearheaded the successful launch of the Oshawa Psychotherapy Training Institute (OPTI), a unique training division of Oshawa Psychological & Counselling Services that focuses on providing mental health clinicians with both professional and personal quality learning as well as peer and clinical support.
Dr. Kwan is a registered psychologist in clinical and counselling psychology with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families as his primary client groups. During more than 20 years of clinical counseling experience, Dr. Kwan has held various clinical positions and leadership roles including Clinical Director of Family Services York Region. Through his private practice, Dr. Kwan provides clinical consultation to practicing mental health clinicians and psychologists. Currently, he provides clinical consultation to social workers on the community health team of Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, Toronto.
Dr. Kwan was first registered as a chartered psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists in 1988 and with the College of Psychologists of Ontario in 2003. He is also a registered marriage and family therapist, clinical member and approved supervisor with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a registered sex therapist and approved supervisor with the Board of Examiners in Sex Therapy & Counselling in Ontario (BESTCO). Dr. Kwan received his Ph.D. in Community Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2002. He also completed additional post-doctoral training for his registration in Clinical and Counseling Psychology with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. Prior to that, Dr. Kwan completed his M.Ed.in Educational Psychology in Special Education with a minor in Counselling Psychology and his M.ED. in Educational Foundations in Inter-Cultural Education, at the University of Alberta (1986 and 1981, respectively).
Dr. Kwan has worked with clients on issues that include anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, ADHD, conduct and school problems, family relationship conflicts, couple relationship difficulties, coping with chronic illness and injuries, domestic violence and child abuse and sexual dysfunctions. He uses a variety of therapeutic modalities including emotionally-focused therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, structural family therapy and narrative therapy.
In addition, Dr. Kwan has provided extensive clinical training within the academic arena both as a lecturer and clinical supervisor. Dr. Kwan has been a sessional lecturer, an associate graduate faculty member and clinical supervisor with both the Counselling Psychology, and School and Clinical Child Psychology programs at OISE, University of Toronto, and as an adjunct professor with the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. Finally, for two terms he was a part-time faculty member with the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, York University.
Dr. Kwan also has been active in community service. He is the volunteer clinical consultant for the peer consultation group, Southeast York Regional Chinese Mental Health Initiative Planning Committee Dr. Kwan is fluent in English and Chinese (Cantonese), and can offer services in either language.
|
|
|
