Our home is the theme for Refugee Week in 2024. In this special episode, we are dedicating our discussion to exploring and highlighting the crucial work being done to support refugees and young asylum seekers. We have the privilege of speaking with Nsimire, a leading professional in the field, who will share her direct experiences in building supportive relationships with refugees and also challenging the single stories that can dominate the fields description of refugee mental health.

Nsimire will take us through her personal journey and deep commitment to this work, revealing how she creates a sense of home for those she helps. Her approach is deeply informed by narrative practice, teamwork, and a culturally attuned perspective. She will discuss the key considerations for effective support, emphasizing the importance of understanding each individual's unique story and cultural background.

Join us as we delve into Nsimire's impactful work and learn about the strategies and insights that enable her to foster a welcoming and supportive environment for refugees and young asylum seekers. This episode is a tribute to the resilience and strength of those who seek a new home and the professionals dedicated to helping them find it.

Link to Refugee week:

https://refugeeweek.org.uk/

David Pocock , Systemic Family Psychotherapist, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, author and lecturer, joins us to discuss his influential paper, "A Philosophy of Practice for Systemic Psychotherapy: The Case for Critical Realism." (2015) In this session, we revisit the paper almost ten years after its initial publication to examine its enduring themes and its significant contribution to the field of family therapy. David explains what critical realism is and how it manifests in therapeutic practice, highlighting its role in bridging the gap between structuralism and post-structuralism and combines moderate realism with moderate constructionism.

David provides an accessible and insightful overview of the paper, demonstrating how critical realism supports a coherent, accountable, and robust understanding of therapeutic practice. Through this discussion, we gain a deeper appreciation for the practical applications of critical realism in systemic psychotherapy, and how it enhances the therapist's ability to navigate complex relational dynamics within diverse family systems. This review underscores the continued relevance and value of critical realism as a philosophical foundation for effective and ethical therapeutic practice.

Reference:

Pocock, D. (2015). A philosophy of practice for systemic psychotherapy: The case for critical realism. Journal of Family Therapy, 37(2), 167-183.

In this episode we are joined by EFTA President, Umberta Telfener, as she shares with us her legacy and connection to the development of the systemic field. She talks about her relationships with some of the pioneers in Systemic Family Therapy across the globe.

We hear her passionate views on combining systemic interventions and psychotherapy as we explore the integral relationship between them. Umberta also discusses first and second order change, systemic complexity, collusion and utilising systemic thinking to create meaningful interventions for people.

Bio:

Umberta Telfener, health & clinical psychologist, teacher of the Milan systemic family therapy school (Boscolo & Cecchin), actual President of EFTA, former adjunct Professor at the post graduate School of Health Psychology of the University of Roma La Sapienza, she supervises Institutions and Community work and is in private practice since 1980.

She is one of the senior systemic professionals and thinkers in Italy. In the mid ’70 she met all the pioneers and since then she teaches systemic thinking in different settings. She had among her direct teachers Heinz von Foerster, Lynn Hoffman, Salvator Minuchin, Jay Haley, Carl Whitaker, Carlos Slusky, Bralio Montalvo, Harry Aponte, Luigi Boscolo e Gianfranco Cecchin.

She teaches at the Health Psychology Post Graduate training of the University of Roma La Sapienza, both Epistemology and systemic thinking and Systemic practice and interventions. She works as a supervisor in different settings both public and private and has written many books and articles in the Italian language with the most well known publishing companies, among which Ammalarsi di Psicoterapia 1995 (Getting sick from psychotherapy), Sistemica un dizionario sulla complessità 2003 (Systemics, a dictionary on complexity, with the direct supervision of Heinz von Foerster, Bollati Boringhieri). She has published with Bollati Boringhieri La psicoterapia come pratica riflessiva (Psychotherapy as a reflexive practice) and with Cortina editore Learning Context, Practices to enter in new settings. She has been past president of the Italian Society for Systemic Therapy and Research (SIRTS) and has been an extern examiner at the Kensington Consultation Centre of London.