Having enjoyed a break over the New Year many people are now returning to work and plans for 2026. This may include training as an accredited family therapist.
Why Train as a Family Therapist?
Ged Smith, a well-regarded and experienced consultant systemic psychotherapist and teacher in the UK has written a paper outlining ‘what trainees can expect in terms of personal learning and development’ and identifies practitioner pointers in clinical practice for those learning the skills.
‘Doing a family therapy course can be a life-changing process. Systemic theory and practice can change not only your clinical practice but also the way you view the world. Viewing all matters, both personal and professional, through an understanding that everything is both contextual and connected fundamentally shifts the basic premises through which life is understood. It will alter ‘how I understand people, relationships, organisations, world events, as well as how I read newspapers and watch the news on television. Systems thinking is a challenge to traditional western individualised ways of seeing and, as such, will challenge and change your perceptions of people, relationships, and the social world.’ While exciting, it is also deeply disturbing to have the most fundamental building blocks that process the world challenged and rebuilt in a vastly different shape.’
A Shake-up in Understanding
Students may approach systemic training believing it is another ‘string to their bow’ placing it alongside other models that explain human difficulties informed by a traditional linear world view. This is reassuring, but at some point, the dissonance becomes impossible to accommodate. This is where students experience both discomfort and a loss of confidence as a shift in understanding also entails a questioning of previous learning and certainty. For students trained in models that claim to know what is ‘true’ and how matters ‘should’ be addressed, embracing ideas that challenge traditional mental health diagnoses and constructions can feel unsafe and disloyal. Exposure to the evidence base for family and systemic therapies is important.
Your Personal Self Will Also Be Challenged
A systems view does not stop with the family of the client, making the term family therapy a misnomer. Practitioners are interested in the entire world of the person and the presenting difficulty, including extended family, community, school, work, friends, culture, and the current state of the world. The pattern which connects does not conveniently stop with the family and includes the practitioner. Training will directly address the self of the therapist and how our own family of origin has created the way we view and respond to the world. This becomes apparent when working with families and encountering our own strong responses. It’s a growth moment but not always comfortable.
In Australia, clinical membership of the Australian Association of Family Therapy requires 250 hours training, 175 of which are to be completed in an AAFT accredited training program, followed by 50 hours supervision with a total of 500 hours practice as the primary therapist. Students who complete the process acknowledge it is challenging but invaluable.
In Summary
Training to be a family therapist is exciting, challenging and requires a commitment from both head and heart. But with clear expectations and support from trainers and peers it is a journey well worth taking.
Ged Smith, (2025) So, You’re Doing a Family Therapy Course……Journal of Family Therapy, 2025; 47:e12495 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6427.12495
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