Developing Teaching Videos

For the past several years the institute has been focusing on producing teaching videos, including short and longer videos for classroom teaching as well as short videos to use with clients in therapy. We have always used videos in our teaching, but the limitations of use of videos of client sessions as well as the limitations of using movies, which we have always considered a tremendous resource for teaching, led us to beginning to develop teaching materials that would allow other therapists, students and the public to learn without great expense from our clinical insights built up over many years teaching family therapy.

The following is a list of videos we have been working on, some of which are complete, while others are still in the imagination stage.

Harnessing the Power of Genograms which illustrates a first session with a client who enters therapy with no particular interest in exploring his family history and learns about the relevance of his genogram as he explores his personal and family history (available through www.psychotherapy.net)

Assessment and Engagement in Family Therapy – This video of an immigrant family from Puerto Rico and Ecuador demonstrates the first stages of therapy over 4 sessions. Monica McGoldrick is the therapist (available through www.psychotherapy.net)

Triangles and De-Triangling, by Monica McGoldrick. A 39 minute video on understanding triangling and detriangling in clinical practice – a video for clients or students.

Emancipating History: A Family’s Racial Legacy: A Genogram Journey of Elaine Pinderhughes. 35 minute video of an interview Elaine Pinderhughes had with Monica McGoldrick about her insights drawn from research she did on her family’s history.

Facing Unmourned Loss & Trauma: Building Resilience: a 27 minute teaching video addressing clinical understanding and intervention for those who have experienced unmourned loss and trauma, based on insights drawn from the work and genogram story of Dr. Norman Paul.

Working with Immigrant Families- 16 minute orientation video about who immigrants are in the U.S. and clinical issues in assessment and intervention- This is a companion video for Assessment and Engagement in Family therapy which explores the issues of an immigrant family over the course of 4 sessions.

Stonehenge: Historic Meetings of Women Family Therapists 1984 and 1986. A 10 minute video including commentary by Monica McGoldrick in collaboration with Froma Walsh from historic conferences they organized more than 30 years ago. The video discusses also the impact of the meeting for the participants and others.

Inlaws, Stepfamilies and other Hazards of Family Life. A video still in process for clients and students to illustrate some of the specific patterns relevant for understanding family relationships with inlaws and step-families.

Creating Genograms– This video is still in process. It will be primarily for students. It uses the story of the Kennedy family to illustrate the creation of genograms: why they are excellent ways to map family stories, patterns they can help you to see in family history, and some specifics of family issues such as sibling constellation, untimely loss and trauma, the pile-up of stressful events, the long range impact of addictions, triangles, and family secrets.

Couples Video: to help couples understand work on their relationship issues. This video will be for couples as well as for students and therapists. It should be no longer than 20 minutes.

Interview with Carlos Sluzki, MD, one of the originals in the Family Therapy Movement. In this interview Sluzki discusses with Monica McGoldrick and Michael Rohrbaugh his history, from his early interest in Systems when studying medician and social theories in Argentina, to his early introduction to the pioneers at MRI, where he worked from the 1960s. Video in preparation

Engaging A Family with a Family Play Genogram: This 22 minute teaching video describes how to use a Family Play Genogram a offers a dramatic case illustration, depicting the value of the technique.

 

Other themes we are working to develop include:

Using a Family Life Cycle Framework for Assessment

Working with Remarried Families

Key Issues in Developing Cultural Competence

Helping People Deal with Conflicts and Cutoffs

The Dimension of Power in Family Therapy

Our Multiple Identities: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Social Class, Geography, Values, Family Connectedness, Life Cycle Stage, etc.

Using U-Theory in Couples Therapy