Current and Recent Notes and Information

Syllabi and Class Information

The PsyJourn Experiment

       SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
           Division of Counseling Psychology and Education
       
             ADVANCED SEMINAR:  COUPLES THERAPY
           ***CPSY 390***
           Spring 1999

          Professor:Jerrold Lee Shapiro, Ph.D., ABMP

Office:(408)554-4012
Office: 218 Bannan Hall home/practice (650) 948-7292
OFFICE HOURS: Tues: 1:30 - 4:00pm
MEETINGS:Tuesdays 5:30 - 8:30 PM   Bannan 332

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TEXTS:

Pollack & LevantNew Psychotherapy for Men
Rice and Rice Living with Divorce

RECOMMENDED:

Wile: Couples Therapy: A Non Traditional Approach
Minuchin and Fishman Family Therapy Technique
Jacobson and Gurman Clinical Handbook of Marital Therapy

This class offers an opportunity to learn clinical aspects of couples therapy.I prefer to work directly with a couple during the class.  No couple is scheduled at this point.  If any of you know of a couple who would be willing to come in for sessions for class purposes, please discuss it with me and them as soon as possible. If we do not have a live couple, we will study the videotapes from a prior cpsy 390 class or use popular films for group analysis. Sessions will begin on April 13 and run weekly through May 25.

YOU MUST BE WILLING TO TREAT THE DEMONSTRATION COUPLE WITH THE SAME LEVEL OF CONFIDENTIALITY AS YOUR OWN CLIENTS

COURSE REQUIREMENT:

Term paper (maximum length 20 pages, double spaced with reasonable margins on top, bottom and sides).The subject of the paper is a description of your family of origin and the impact it has on your relationships, and your therapy.

The paper should contain at least the following:

1) A tracing of your roots at least as far back as your grandparents generation. This can be done in genogram, diagram or prose.Please get started on getting this information early. It often takes much more time, effort and difficulty than you would expect.

2) A clear description of your parents' marital system, and of the family system in which you grew up. Describe, in detail, important events in the development and progression of your parents relationship over time. You may begin with your parents in their own families of origin and progress through their relationships, courtship, marriage or ?, and their parenting. Look at all relevant systems (holons) in their relationships with their parents, siblings, etc. It may be easier to look at each parent as an individual, as a child, as a part of a couple, and as a member of the extended family.

3) Examine the impact of your birth on all relevant systems in the marriage and family. Describe the various structures, interactions and patterns that were produced in your family of origin. Be sure to include cultural patterns within the nuclear family and any extended family. Rules, roles, interactional patterns, myths, triangles, hierarchies, boundaries, etc. are all important components here.

4) Describe in detail the ways in which your parents' marriage has influenced your own intimate relationships. In what ways did they model certain attitudes, behaviors etc., and in what ways has your reaction to their relationship affected your own intimate relationships over time?

5) Based on the impact of your family history, and of your personal history and knowledge, describe your (potential) strengths and weaknesses as a therapist. Be sure to connect this to the information above.

6) Integrate the work on Marriage and Divorce described by Pollack and Levant, Rice and Rice, CPSY 311 texts or other readings into your analysis. You may want to use the construct of intimacy as an organizing principle.

THIS PAPER IS DUE NO LATER THAN Tues. May 26, 1998.

COURSE GRADE:

Paper will account for 60% of the grade. The other 40% will be a function of your participation and performance in class. Each member of the class will be expected to be an active and sensitive member of the class. Cooperation with other students is stressed. Your ability to work with clinical situations, and to be creative in applying course constructs to clinical materials will be evaluated during this quarter. Please be aware that the quantity of your participation is far less important than quality. Your ability to treat your clients with respect, dignity, and to deal with clinical situations ethically will be stressed.

As was true during the Introductory Marital Therapy Course, you are expected to learn new materials and use them during the classes. Demonstrated ability to employ course constructs in a logical and appropriate way, regardless of previous experience, will result in high grades. The classes are places to experiment with the constructs, and "being right" is less important than logical attempts that show an understanding of the theories, and their applications.

For most of you, this means that you only need to continue with your excellent classwork of the first quarter. If you want to check with me during the first class break, I'll be happy to indicate areas of improvement if they appear necessary.

READING:

Dig into the texts as early as you can. After you read the first three chapters in Rice & Rice, and the first two in Pollack & Levant, Read in the order you prefer.

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