What we’re about
Many decades ago family therapy burst onto the mental health scene thanks to leaders in the field such as Dr. Salvador Minuchin and other greats, too many to name here. I was trained in this modality behind the one-way mirror and, over the last 25 years, have trained and supervised others in providing this amazing treatment option to kids and their families. This Meetup site is for YOU to let me know if there is a meetup that you might like me to post for you: maybe meeting at a coffee place, meeting for group peer consultation, etc. Other than this, I mainly use the site to let folks know about my free trainings all around the Bay Area in the area of child/youth and family work. I also offer consultation and supervision in person or via Skype/FaceTime. Thus, what you will usually get from me are emails letting you know about these offerings.
As our evidence has grown, indicating the effectiveness of working with youth within the context of their families, more clinicians have been seeking out training and support in doing this very challenging work. The Bay Area Family Institute of Training, founded by Pamela Parkinson, Ph.D., LCSW, provides training to child/family organizations all over the Bay Area, and has created an infrastructure of state-of-the-art training facilities (one-way mirrors, earpieces for "in the moment, experiential" supervision, taping of sessions, reflecting teams, etc.). This training, along with the evidence of the effectiveness of family work, has brought back to our awareness the importance of "family".
Many clinicians, who think outside of the "cube", are taking risks to learn this work and to revive it in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, our universities are not able to provide as much training in this area as is necessary and most child and family agencies do not have supervisors who are well trained in this modality or clinical theoretical orientation. Thus, many clinicians are trying to include families in their work in a meaningful way, and are finding themselves isolated and overwhelmed.
This meet-up group is meant to provide support, decrease feelings of isolation in doing this very important work, and offer opportunities for training and consultation so that clinicians can continue their professional growth and development in becoming family therapists and family workers with increased effectiveness and expertise. This site is for you if you are an MSW, MFT, psychologist, psychiatrist, or a paraprofessional who works directly with youth AND their families in any kind of setting. If you are excited by being a part of such a dynamic and creative group of clinical professionals, please consider joining us!