Pre-requisites

CN510 Introduction to Counselling
CN611 Basic Counselling Skills

Co-requisites

None.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

• Analyse and evaluate the diversity within families and subgroups including multiculturalism, gender, age and a variety of family forms in their social context, informed by a Christian perspective.

• Assess the history, models and principles of family therapy

• Determine your own family of origin, its structure and relational dynamic, your own values and your belief systems concerning families and relationships and the implications of these beliefs for practice.

• Exercise initiative and judgment in applying knowledge and skills in family therapy in counselling practice.

Unit Description

This unit introduces students to the field of family counselling by developing their understanding of the main theoretical frameworks and interventions adopted by family counsellors and systemic practitioners in particular. Students will apply the strategies that are particular to the main theoretical frameworks and will critically integrate them into their own professional identity as counsellors. Several issues pertinent to families and the field of family counselling will be explored in terms of theory and interventions that are relevant to working with families in the context of accurate information about each of the issues including from a Christian perspective.

Topics

• Introduction to Family Therapy and Systems Work
• Using Genograms to Understand Family Systems
• Transgenerational Model: Bowen’s Family Systems Therapy
• Structural Model: Structural Family Therapy
• Experiential Model: Emotionally Focused Family Therapy
• Strategic Models: Strategic Family Therapy and Milan Family Therapy
• The Human Validation Process Model: Satir Transformational Family Therapy
• Presenting Issues in Family Therapy and the Effects of Trauma
• Family Structures
• Working with Young People in the Context of Family Counselling

Teaching Strategies

Teaching strategies include: lectures and tutorials, weekend schools; class discussions; role plays and practice of skills within class; presentation of instructional material in the form of printed documentation, DVD, video and audio tape and online interaction.

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Unit offerings

Face to face: Semester 1, 2025 (Every 2nd Year (Odd), Semester 1)

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.