Future Family Therapists started training at Department of Psychology RUPP
27 April 2017
Experienced psychologists and social workers know about the importance of the family in Cambodia as a collectivist society. For the “Postgraduate Certificate in Family Therapy and Systemic Practice” training of the Department of Psychology at RUPP enrolled 12 of them – working in various fields of their professions. Comprehensive therapy training courses are scarce in Cambodia, and the existing trainings address mainly individuals with their therapeutic approach. Development advisor Bernhild Pfautsch, working with the GIZ-Civil peace service at the University, has set up a curriculum to meet the needs for further vocational training of graduates and practitioners. She conducts the 5-module training as well as supportive supervision sessions together with Anna Huisman, a Dutch Family Therapist based in Phnom Penh.
Family therapy as a systemic approach considers the network of significant relationships of which each individual is a part of. It explores the beliefs that give meaning to people’s behavior and the patterns of interaction and communication between people from families and different systems. The course will provide a significant opportunity for interdisciplinary learning by gathering a group of experienced professionals who bring profound proficiency from their field.
The project will get prominent support from Prof. Dr. John K. Miller, now based at Fudan University Shanghai, China, and former member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), who will teach the second module in June.
As the course structure fosters the immediate implementation of new knowledge in workplace-based cases the 12 trainees were already discussing on the last day of their first training module how to use the new therapeutic techniques with their current clients.
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