Value of Family Therapy in The Spotlight
20 May 2009
YIPEE Group in performance
This conference will raise the awareness of systemic practice and family therapy and will provide delegates with a range of ideas, skills and techniques to use in their day to day work
”Kath Williamson, Senior Family Therapist with Derbyshire Mental Health Services and University Lecturer.
The University of Derby is set to become a centre of excellence in the region to offer Masters level clinical training to family therapists who provide vital support to mental health sufferers in the community.
The courses are delivered in partnership with the Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust.
The University is set to offer a new Masters (MA) in Systemic Psychotherapy which will begin in September aimed at a range of health professionals working in this specialist field of mental health and relationships. It will become the only University in the East Midlands to offer this sort of qualification.
The new course will be unveiled at the second annual conference for DAFT the Derbyshire Association for Family Therapy – tomorrow (Thursday, 21 May) at the University’s Kedleston Road site in Derby. The conference is organised in partnership between DAFT, the Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust and the University of Derby.
The conference, Family Therapy In Action offers a day of inspiration for health, education and other social care professionals and voluntary workers. It features workshops, talks and displays promoting the value of systemic practice and family therapy, and current thinking in this area.
The event has been co-ordinated by the DAFT committee, including Kath Williamson, Lesley Novelle and Gary Robinson, all lecturers at the University of Derby and senior professionals within Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust.
Kath is a senior family therapist and Lesley is a systemic psychotherapist. Kath said: “This conference will raise the awareness of systemic practice and family therapy and will provide delegates with a range of ideas, skills and techniques to use in their day to day work.
“It is also significant news for the profession that the University is offering this new Masters course in the next academic year – the first in the region to offer such an opportunity.”
The systemic practice and family therapeutic approach is based on exploring the idea that a mental health or psychological issue, and its complex relationships need to be considered within a person’s family, significant relationships and broader context, not just with the individual.
For example, if a child is wetting the bed, systemic family therapy will look at the whole family and the relationships between all the people involved and try to locate how those relationships may be contributing to the problem and the possible solutions.
The conference will also see a group of young people with experiences of mental health problems perform their play entitled ‘A Day In The Life’ to delegates about issues surrounding psychosis.
The Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust has invested heavily in improving services within its Young Persons Service and its Early Intervention Service which support individuals and their families who experience psychosis. This has included the development of three Senior Family Therapy Posts alongside other specialists in the area.
The group is supported by the Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust and successfully used National Lottery funding two years ago to found a theatre group called YIPEE – Young Intelligent People Elite Entertainers – which rehearses at Kingsway Hospital in Derby and has performed at a number of other venues across the county.
A gripping plot focuses on the experiences of one character Clive, who suffers with psychosis and wrestles with a variety of issues surrounding his education, family and other problems. Where does he turn to and what does he do?
Youth worker Perry Jackson, who helped found YIPEE, said: “Theatre in education is a useful tool to help enrich the education of young people, and gives them confidence to develop and grow and express issues surrounding mental illness in different ways.”
For more details about the conference on Thursday, please contact Gary Robinson, Principal Systemic Psychotherapist, on 01773 880554 or email: Gary.Robinson@DerbysMHServices.nhs.uk
For more information about this news release, contact Deputy Head of Corporate Relations Simon Redfern on 01332 591942 or 07748 920038or email: s.redfern@derby.ac.uk
