School of Psychology hosts USA-Ireland Family Therapy Seminar
Professor Todd Edwards and Professor Jo Ellen Patterson from the University of San Diego presented a paper on Family Therapy in Primary Care at a USA-Ireland seminar on Friday March 2nd 2012 in the UCD School of Psychology. The seminar was attended by postgraduates from the UCD doctoral programme in clinical psychology and the University of San Diego masters programme in family therapy.Speaking at the seminar Professor Edwards said ‘Surveys have shown that a medical explanation cannot be provided for 70% of patient complaints in primary care. In our integrated care model, family therapists work side by side with family physicians, and using a bio-psycho-social model of systemic family therapy address these medically unexplained symptoms.’ Professor Edwards and Patterson texts which describe their unique approach to clinical practice - Essential Skills in Family Therapy and Essential Assessment Skills for Couple and Family Therapists - have been widely adopted by professional family therapy training programmes in the US and Europe. At the seminar, presentations were also made by Dr Gary O’Reilly on computer assisted cognitive behaviour therapy and by Professor Alan Carr on individual and systemic approaches to formulation. Both Professor Carr and Dr O’Reilly direct the UCD doctoral programme in clinical psychology.
(L-R Professor Alan Carr, Professor Jo Ellen Patterson, Professor Todd Edwards & Dr Gary O’Reilly)