SFBPRA Practical Training in Family Therapy Course description

The course switches between teaching family theory and methodology with workshop training in small groups at the university, and direct work/practical training with children and families under supervision by experienced family therapists working in the health services, family welfare centres or in the municipal family centres. Students are given the chance to integrate personal therapeutic development with theory, research-based knowledge and methodology. Students practise working with networks, families, couples and individual clients, and have their work evaluated by a supervisor and fellow students.

Throughout the programme, students work to integrate knowledge from the practical training with knowledge gathered from the other theoretical courses on the programme. The clinical training runs over two years with a total of 300 hours of supervised practical training, spread over four semesters (the second to the fifth semester). The practical training is an integral part of the course. The teaching of the course takes place over three academic years.

Students can find their own practical training institution/enterprise, but OsloMet will conduct an academic assessment before the institution/enterprise can be approved.

Students must have passed course SFB5110 Issues of Child and Adolescent Mental Health before they can start their practical training.

After completing the course, the students are expected to have achieved the following knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student has

• advanced knowledge and overview of the family therapy field, the history of family therapy, different understandings of the family and different key family therapeutic methods
• In-depth developmental psychology understanding of the child and the child in relation to its caregivers 
• in-depth, research-based knowledge of what works in therapy, including evidence-based practice

Skills

The student is capable of

• applying relevant theories and methodologies in therapeutic work 
• participating and working in reflective teams as part of family work, including working in different positions (for instance, main therapist, co-therapist and reflective therapist)
• handling and writing a journal in relation to legal and ethical regulations
• coming to grips with complex conditions, such as family violence, alcohol or drug addictions, eating disorders and self-harm

Competence

The student is capable of

• working in a change-oriented manner by applying different key family therapy aspects in health and welfare services, including consultation, guidance and teaching
• interdisciplinary work and addressing user participation in family work
• reflecting on ethical issues and acting on ethical principles in family work

The second semester: Consists of 48 hours on-campus, case-base lectures/workshops in family theory and methodology with cases from the students. In addition, the students commence clinical training in the practice period, which continues through the fifth semester (75 hours per semester).

The practical training consists of contributing to small-group therapeutic work and direct work with children, youths and families led by experienced family therapists.This part of the master programme is carried out off-campus in appropriate locations, such as family welfare centres or in child welfare contexts. There is a requirement of an individual midway meeting between the supervisor and student each semestre, but all supervision other than that is carried out in situ before and after therapeutic conversations.

Within the framework of the course progress description, each clinic is responsible for arranging the practice training the student needs to reach the learning requirements. 

In each following semestre, concurrently with the practice training, 18 hours of on-campus, case-based lectures/workshops in family theory and methodology is obligatory.

The Sixth semester concludes the course with 48 hours of on-campus, case-based lecture/workshop in preparation for the final examination.

In order to ensure the therapeutic quality of the programme, compulsory attendance with at least 80% participation in the clinical training is required. The students are allowed to have an absence of 20% from the clinic each year. If the absence exceeds 20%, but less than 30%, the student can compensate for the absence by submitting an additional coursework requirement. The maximum absence limit is 30% per academic year. A student whose absence exceeds 30%, cannot compensate by submitting coursework requirements, and such a student cannot continue to the next year of the programme, nor register for the final exam in the last academic year. The clinical training must be approved before the student is qualified to sit the final exam of the course.

Coursework requirements: Two submissions of coursework are required, in the second and fifth semesters, respectively. The first is a theoretical requirement and the second a clinical one.  In addition, a coursework requirement in the form of a practice rapport must be submitted in the sixth semester, before the final oral exam.

Second semester: The student must submit a written assignment of six pages (+/- 10 per cent) about a family therapy dilemma, and analyse this from a theoretical and/or methodological perspective. The required coursework must be approved before the student can undertake the clinical training. Individual feedback is provided on the coursework and an opportunity to rework the coursework once will be provided if the assignment is not approved.

Students are required to have qualified for the course SFB5100 Issues of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, before starting clinical training.

Fifth semester: The student must submit a practical training report of eight pages (+/- 10 per cent) with a log and reflections on how the goals and the learning outcomes relating to the clinical training period have been achieved. Work on the report should be done throughout the clinical training period, and the report should form the basis for the individual midway meetings with the clinical training supervisor.

The clinical training report must be approved by the clinical training supervisor in the sixth semester, and must be signed by both the clinical training supervisor and the student. The clinical training report must be approved before the student's clinical training period is approved. If 

In accordance with the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet Chapter 8, the student should be notified early if the supervisor questions whether the student will have achieved the learning outcomes of the clinical period.  

Sixth semester: During the final exam, the student presents a 15 minute recorded video clip of one or two sessions of roleplay. In the clip the student is expected to play the role of main therapist, and rely on friends or co-workers etc to play roles like co-therapist and family-members. The student provides an edited film recording on a memory stick.

In qualification of the final exam, the following coursework requirements must be submitted by the stipulated deadline:

• A written presentation of "the case"/the roleplay the student has recorded. This presentation must be concise, and must not be longer than one A4 page with single line spacing.
• The student must also write an approximately verbatim transcript of the dialogue in the chosen film clip.
• A genogram (family tree) must also be included, and can be drawn on a separate sheet. The genogram must provide information for at least three generations.

The students cannot register for the oral exam before these coursework requirements have been approved by the person responsible for the course.

The course concludes with an hour long oral exam. The exam is based on the written coursework requirements, the video and the syllabus from the three academic years. The oral exam is graded by one internal and one external examiner. 

Guidelines for the video presentation

The student will present a video clip from their clinical work lasting about 15 minutes. The recording must be from the last year of the programme. The purpose of this is to provide the student with the opportunity to demonstrate the following:

• excellent skills in clinical intervention
• the ability to relate theory and practice
• their own professional (theoretical and clinical) development during the programme.

It is important that the student demonstrates an ability to apply academic thinking in practice. Furthermore, he/she must show their ability to reflect over what occurs in ¿the clinical moment¿ and link this to the treatment process.

Own notes.

The exam is assessed as Pass/Fail.