64th Annual Conference

Friday, March 9

Afternoon Workshops

2:45-6:00 P.M.

Workshop 65

Building a Working System: The Couples' Therapist as Member of a Small Group

Chair:         

Claudia Byram, Ph.D., CGP, Consulting Affiliate, Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When a couple enters the therapist’s office suddenly there are three people – a small group!  How the therapist joins and builds this new system has a powerful impact on the potential for change.  In this workshop we will use a communications tool (SAVI – System for Analyzing Verbal Interaction) to map and role play therapist’s contribution to building a viable new system with couples.

didactic, demonstration, experiential, sharing of work experiences

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Describe two common communication patterns of couples seeking treatment.

2. Identify compliance and defiance in the first phase of group development and their impact on couples’ treatment.

3. Use the SAVI framework to shape the communication behavior of therapist and the couple.

4. Implement at least one strategy for establishing a valid communication pattern in a couple’s session.

Course References:

1. Simon, A. (1993). Using SAVI for Couples' Therapy. Journal of Family Psychotherapy. 4, 39-62.

2. Simon, A. (1996). SAVI and Individual SCT Therapy. The SCT Journal: Systems-Centered Theory and Practice. 1, 65-71.

3. Simon A, & Agazarian, Y. (2000). SAVI - the System for Analyzing Verbal Interaction, in The Process of Group Psychotherapy: Systems for Analyzing Change, A. Beck, and C. Lewis.. (Eds), Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Assn. 357-380.