Introduction to Structural Family Therapy
Live Webinar
In an increasingly individualistic culture that places emphasis on pathology and medication over interpersonal connection, few mental health practitioners feel confident doing family therapy. Although many recognize how important family is to individual clients’ growth and wellbeing, clinicians face countless barriers to working with the family, including the omnipresence and pressures of technology, which have only intensified familial fragmentation. In this 6-week introduction course you will be introduced to the framework of Salvador Minuchin’s famous Structural Family Therapy (SFT) model. Classes will cover the historical and social context of the model, values and core principles of engagement, assessment, and intervention, including joining, mapping, and enactments. Discussion will include how to engage family members and use sessions to effectively disrupt dysfunctional patterns and bring about change. Presenter will use slides, discussion, role plays, transcripts, and videotaped segments of rarely seen family therapy sessions to illustrate key principles.
Presenter Bios:
Cara Brendler, LCSW, has extensive experience working with families exhibiting abuse and neglect, suicidal thinking and behavior, depression, anxiety, mood disorders, psychosomatic disorders (including anorexia, bulimia, and overeating), school avoidance and behavioral problems, attention difficulties and impulsivity, infidelity, and divorce and remarriage.
Cara has presented on working with fathers and daughters in the family context with her own father, also a family therapist, at multiple venues, including the Psychotherapy Networker National Symposium, The Minuchin Center for the Family, and Bryn Mawr College. She has co-led family and couples therapy training groups for therapists and run therapy groups for teenagers and young women. Cara has also presented to parents of high school seniors on the transition to college/post-high school life.
Richard Lally, MSW, LCSW is a graduate of New York University School of Social Work and is a licensed therapist with more than 25 years of experience specializing in child, adolescent, couple and family therapy.
As a lecturer at Rutgers University School of Social Work, Rich has taught graduate-level classes including Working with Children and Adolescents, Welfare Policy, and Families and Family Therapy. He has instructed psychiatric residents on the fundamentals of family therapy at Bergen Regional Medical Center and NYU Child Study Center. He teaches continuing education classes for mental health professionals. He also provides lectures and training to agencies and community services including schools, universities, places of worship, and self-help groups.
Timeline:
Virtual Class Schedule 1
Mondays 12:00 – 2:00 PM
March 24, 31, 2025
April 7, 14, 21, 28, 2025
Virtual Class Schedule 2
Thursdays 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST
March 6, 13, 20, 27, 2025
April 3, 10, 2025
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
- Describe the evidence base for structural family therapy (SFT)
- Identify how to apply SFT cross cultural principles
- Describe the role of SFT in child protection work
- Identify the role of SFT with disruptive children and adolescents
- Describe the utility of several systemic approaches to couple therapy (including Structural Couple Therapy).
- Identify factors in the development process of becoming a Structural Family Therapist.
- Identify ways the theoretical lens of Structural Family Therapy makes visible the otherwise invisible string that ties one family member to another.
- Identify the role of SFT with high conflict couples.
- Identify the role of SFT with various medical issues/addiction.
This course content is based on a publication that has been peer-reviewed, the scientific standard for evaluating academic work. All studies and scientifically derived evidence have limitations that should be considered. If you have any questions about the accuracy or limitations of the content, please contact us at
support@ce-classes.com and we will get back to you.
