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New branches on the Tree of Knowledge. Challenges for systemic family therapists
Author(s) -
Johnsen Astri
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-6427
pISSN - 0163-4445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6427.2007.00376.x
Subject(s) - family therapy , socialization , psychology , systemic therapy , psychotherapist , field (mathematics) , clinical practice , family tree , medicine , developmental psychology , nursing , mathematics , cancer , breast cancer , genealogy , history , pure mathematics
Faced with today's challenges, I question whether the framework for family therapy provided by systemic thinking is sufficient when working with children and teenagers. The aim of this paper is not to argue for an eclectic model for therapy, but rather to encourage a critical dialogue between various bodies of knowledge. The paper raises the discussion of how family therapists relate to knowledge external to the therapy field. Contemporary developmental psychology, neurobiology, behavioural genetics and group socialization theory are highlighted as useful bodies of knowledge for family therapists. Examples from clinical practice are used to illustrate this.