Editorial

This Issue of Volume 19 provides us with information about the syllabuses of training courses, and the rationales for teaching in these ways. The first three papers give overall descriptions of training programmes and their rationales. We start with an account by Paolo Bertrando of the non-hierarchical Milan team training approach. Of particular interest is that groups of trainees are given the responsibility to develop the activities by which theory will become incorporated into the self of each trainee. Paolo them moves on to give us a useful and detailed description of the content and processes of current training. Judith Lask describes the processes used in the Institute of Psychiatry in London by which students are helped to develop an awareness, and ability to use, a richer conceptualisation of their self. Importantly she indicates some of the ways that the trainees’ achievements are assessed, a crucial issue for trainers that could receive more attention in future publications in Human Systems. Ágnes and Zoltán Kónya report their programme called “New Experience for Survivors of Trauma”, but which, as they say, has wide application. Consideration of their eight steps of the group process indicates the integrative nature of the approach. As well as presenting the programme they usefully cover cultural issues in training, and report feedback by staff and trainees.

Next, Lia Mastropaolo shows how Milan methods especially of questioning are used in their training courses to teach students to think systemically and thereby to work systemically. The paper focuses especially on the range of techniques used to develop the trainee’s capacity for self-observation. Peter Stratton and Helga Hanks explore a different tension: between competence as a systemic therapist and imagined incompetence as a researcher. They describe how research in the four year training builds on therapeutic skills to achieve a capable performance in quantitative and qualitative research. An exercise to dialogically construct one of their selves as a researcher was at least partially successful for a majority of trainees.

Finally, Thalis Papadakis, E. Kouneli, Ε.Μorarou, H. Sidiropoulos, and I.K. Tsegos show how personal and professional development of systemic therapists can take place by being integrated with a group analytic approach. The syllabus is laid out in some detail so that readers can see how each stage of the training is tackled. As the field of systemic family therapy moves towards integrating different therapeutic approaches, and takes responsibility for coordinating the work of people from different professions, this article provides a useful conclusion to this first Issue.