Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

If the training of family therapists is limited to the mere teaching of a theory or a technique, then there is a danger it will lead only to the creation of sects or working groups. It is, however, highly desirable that practitioners should learn to cast off their knowledge and keep open the question of the conflicts between therapeutic myths in order to promote their dynamic development within the families they encounter. This raises a great number of problems, the first of course being the problem of the sense of vocation. Why does someone wish to become a therapist? The role of the imaginary as the engine of training is a crucial one, when one sees… the effect of something which revolves unconsciously around the notion of reparation: reparation of the child one has been, the child one would have liked to be; reparation of a handicap one has experienced in one's own family or in one's immediate vicinity. (de Martino, 1984) As a direct corollary of this, we must ask whether a selection should be operated. Is this admissible when teaching leads to an academic diploma and is it legitimate (or even possible) when teaching is carried out by private associations authorized only by themselves? The current response to these questions is that the teaching of family therapy is reserved for the training of people who are already professionals in the field of social, medical and educative ... log in or subscribe to read full text