ArgosyUniversity

COURSE SYLLABUS

PP8050

Family and Couples Therapy,Spring 2010

Faculty Information

Faculty Name: Dr. Valerie Harrington

Campus:Chicago

Contact Information: Phone: (773) 588-3350; Email:

Office Hours: By appointment, T and F

Short Faculty Bio: I received my doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from TempleUniversity in 2001. My professional interests include child and adolescent development, maternal mental health, burnout/trauma in mental health professionals, and systems theory.

Course description:

Theory and skill training in the assessment and treatment of couples and families are emphasized. Theories considered may include several family systems models (e.g., EFT, Structural, Bowen).

Course Pre-requisites: None

Required Textbooks:

Bowen, M. (1994). Family Therapy in clinical practice. Aronson. ISBN: 1568210116.

Guerin, P. and colleagues (1996). Working with relationship triangles: The one-two-three of psychotherapy. Guilford Press. ISBN: 1572301430

Johnson, S. (2004). The practice of emotionally focused couples therapy: Creating connection. 2nd. Edition. Brunner-Routledge. ISBN: 0876308175

Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy.Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press. ISBN: 0674292367

Minuchin, S. & Nichols, M.P. (1993). Family healing: Strategies for hope and understanding. Free Press. ISBN: 0684855739

Recommended Textbooks:

Bateson, G. (2000). Steps to an ecology of mind. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 0226039056

Kerr & Bowen (1988). Family evaluation: An approach based on Bowen therapy. W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN: 0393700569

McGoldrick, M., Gerson, R., & Shellenberger, S. (1999). Genograms: Assessment and intervention (2nd Ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN: 0393702944

McGoldrick, M., Giordano, J., & Pearce, J.K. (2005). Ethnicity and Family Therapy, 3rd Edition. Guilford Press.

Minuchin, S. & Fishman, H.C. (2004). Family Therapy Techniques. HarvardUniversity Press. ISBN: 0674294106

Piercy, Sprenkle, Wetchler, and associates (1996). Family therapy sourcebook (2nd Ed.)

Technology:Pentium III CPU/ Windows 98; 128MB RAM, printer; Microsoft Office Acrobat (full version), Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (PC) 5.0 (MAC) or Netscape Navigator 4.08. Norton Antivirus.

Course length: 7.5 Weeks

Contact Hours: 45 Hours

Credit Value: 3.0

Course Objectives:

  1. Students will be able to conceptualize human health, problems and resolutions from a systemic perspective.
  2. Students will demonstrate both theory and clinical knowledge of 3 schools of family therapy. They will be able to relate them to family life cycle in diverse ethnicity, religious, social class, disability, and sexual orientation.
  3. The students will demonstrate clinical skills working with families in clinical setting.
  4. Students will be able to identify the interface between family of origin issues and client family issues.

Assignments:

*A more detailed assignment schedule will be provided on the first day of class.

There are five assignments in this course, in addition to assigned readings. They are working with a family (role play) throughout the term, conceptualization paper, the student’s genogram and paper, presentations on special topics, and a final exam addressing the students’ conceptual and critical thinking abilities. Missing class will negatively affect your grade.

  1. “Doing family therapy” (100 points). Each student is required to “be the therapist” in the role plays. There will be two types of role plays. First, we will do role plays as a class. Second, each student will have time on the first week to develop ‘families.’ You will be in groups of 3-4 and do role plays.

Developing your family: Include brief family history and a presenting problem (the rest will be improvised). You will work with these families throughout the semester. In these role plays you are to practice systemic interventions and conceptualization of theories addressed in class and the readings. The instructor will provide feedback throughout the role play time.

After the first week of class, you will write a 1-2 page paper in which you discuss your strengths and challenges in working with your family as a therapist, and your reflections on approaching a case from a family systems perspective. You will write a second reflection paper (1-2 pages) at the end of the semester. Grading will be based on your participation in the role plays, your ability to apply concepts to the task, and your reflection papers.

  1. Structural case conceptualization paper (100 points). You will write a 3-5 page paper conceptualizing a case using structural theory. Further assignment details and case material will be provided in class.

3. Family Genogram (150 points)

  1. (50 points) Complete an accurate genogram of your family. Include at least 3 generations (i.e., you, your parents, and your grandparents). Please identify the following on your genogram:
  • Names, dates of marriage/births/deaths/separations/divorces (month & year), cultural/ethnic/religious affiliations for all significant family members.
  • Other information like immigration, occupation, education, city/state of residence, illnesses, substance abuse, mental health. Add descriptive information that clarifies relationships as needed (e.g., drug use, in jail, etc.) You may create a “legend’ if additional explanation is warranted.
  • Show schematically the nature of key relationships (e.g., closeness, distance, conflicts).
  • Previous students have found that having interviews/conversations with family members around these areas provide new insight. I encourage you to contact siblings, parents, uncles/aunts, grandparents for corroborating information. Even responses to such requests can be very informative.
  • You may use a medium larger than an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper. The use of different colors for relational lines, etc. may enhance the presentation of the information. Please do not use pencil for final presentation (smears too easily).
  1. (100 points) Submit a 6-8 page, double spaced paper (APA style) illustrating two of Bowen’s 8 intergenerational principles as applied to your family. The objective of this written assignment is to demonstrate your understanding of Bowenian theory of how family relationship patterns exist across generations in families. Include a self-critique, identifying “interface issues” from your family intergenerational history that you might have as a therapist working with families and couples in general. Address issues related to gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation as well as specific types of presenting problems that you believe interfaces with your family of origin. Remember to include areas of strengths as well as areas that may be more problematic.

Please do not devote much space to describing info already on the genogram.

** This assignment is intended for both academic mastery of one form of family assessment, but also self-reflection for the student. Disclose ONLY the information that you feel comfortable sharing. If you do not wish to create a genogram of your family, please contact the instructor for an alternate assignment at least two weeks prior to the deadline.

4.Presentation Role Play (75 points) Groups of students (organized by family groups) will provide a brief presentation and role play based on a selected topic of interest pertinent to marital and family therapy. The role play will illustrate a specific aspect/treatment strategy relevant to the topic presented. Examples of topics will be discussed in class. The presentation should include handoutswith referencesfor each student on the topic.

5. Final (150 points) The Final is an in-class exam. You will be presented with a family case and will select one of the three theories presented in class to write a case conceptualization and treatment plan. The following are an example of sections to be included: Assessment technique (i.e., Bowen – genogram), presenting problem and history of family interactions, family functioning, statement of problem from your theoretical position, critique of theory, how it addresses issues of diversity, goals of treatment, initial session, interventions/phases of treatment, and termination. You will be allowed to bring notes to the exam. Citations supporting your positions are expected. More details will be provided closer to the date.

Grading Criteria

All late assignments and missed classes will affect your grade

Grades will be distributed by according to percentage of points possible (575 pts).

Grading Scale%

A / 100 – 93
A- / 92 – 90
B+ / 89 – 88
B / 87 – 83
B- / 82 – 80
C+ / 79 – 78
C / 77 - 73
C- / 72 – 70
D+ / 69 – 68
D / 67 – 63
D- / 62 – 60
F / 59 and below

Library

All resources in ArgosyUniversity’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students with links, user IDs, and passwords.

Library Resources: ArgosyUniversity’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at Detailed descriptions of online resources are located at

In addition to online resources, ArgosyUniversity’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively, students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference assistance from campus librarians.

Information Literacy: ArgosyUniversity’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and transferable research skills. The tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at

Academic Policies

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, ArgosyUniversity requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). WashingtonDC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5thEdition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the ArgosyUniversity catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.

Scholarly writing: The faculty at ArgosyUniversity is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” ( an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.

Americans with Disabilities Act Policy

It is the policy of ArgosyUniversity to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.

Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.

TheArgosyUniversity Statement Regarding Diversity

ArgosyUniversity prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both

the academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.

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