Family Dynamics in Counseling

This course provides an introduction to family counseling and therapy with an emphasis on developing systemic case conceptualization skills and counseling skills for sessions with multiple, interconnected participants. Students learn major theories in family therapy including, Family Systems Theory, Bowen Intergenerational Family Systems Theory, Strategic Family Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, Experiential Family Therapy, Psychodynamic Family Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Family Therapy, and Internal Family Systems Theory. Students are introduced to clinical implications for working with romantic partners and parent-child dyads, with specific attention to working with adolescents and their families. Clinical skills are taught with an emphasis on understanding healthy and symptomatic family functioning and development across the life course.

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