Derbyshire Association of Family Therapy Conference 16 th May Tania Pombeiro & Tracey Woodcock Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation Trust To inspire multi agency collaboration using reflective ways of working 1. Setting the scene: Introductions with expectations & just a little bit of theory about reflecting processes. 2. Bridging the theory to practice gap by taking part in a reflecting team exercise. Chose a picture that: 1. Says something about us by way of introducing ourselves to each other. 2. Says something about the hopes, dreams & expectations we had in mind when you chose to attend/facilitate this workshop. 3. & the worst nightmare we had about working in a reflecting team. Milan School Observing Team (Boscolo, Cecchin, Hoffman & Penn,1987) Reflecting Team Collaborative Reflecting Team (Andersen,1985) As If Consultation (Anderson, H., 2012) Narrative Definitional Ceremonies (White, 1995) Dialogical Open Dialogue (Seikkula et all, 1995 Resonance Groups (Vedeler, 2010) Tom Anderson (1987 & 1995) developed the idea of reflection in action with families. This way of working highlights peoples strengths, legitimises peoples positions & opens up new possibilities for addressing problems. Its a collaborative & open method with room for clarification of different positions and ideas within the parameters of the agenda. Multiple reflections in both/and or neither/nor helps us to escape from limiting conversations. Highlights the richness of different voices and contributes to the emergence of local knowledge that isnt too unusual. Less concerned with content and therefore less in danger of becoming marooned in attempts to offer others a better view or story (Dallos & Draper, 2000). Be speculative. Use the clients speech and the material that was shared in the room. Relevant to the proceeding conversation. Not too different from the clients view. Comment on the picture of the problem. Possible explanations for the problem. Ways in which the family understand their picture of the problem. Ways in which the family might embrace new pictures of the problem. Family Therapy Teams Children who are Looked After Family Therapy Team Thinking Together Consultation A presenter, an interviewer, a reflecting team 1. Presenter introduces the difficulty/dilemma Identifies the main characters (agencies, people) What is your expectation, hope ? 2. Reflecting Team divided into listening positions (characters). Listening with the whole body (Andersen & Jensen, 2007)! 3. Presenter and interviewer: mapping of dilemma. 4. Reflecting Team acts and talks; presenter listens 5. Post-reflection discussion Tell us what you would like us to know about the family/dilemma? How are relationships organised - in relation to the dilemma, people? What are the restraints? And the possibilities? What is defining and how- your position? How would your preferred position/ relationship look like? What, who could fuel it into action? From the listening positions they are acting from: the reflecting team members move freely in the room in order to sculpt the position that best describes their reaction to/ impression (gut feeling) in relation to what they heard, what resonated with them. From their physical position: the audience are invited to share their views, wonderings and reflections with one another. Multi-agency integration needs to take into account how different perspectives are articulated around the domains of: Explanation ( What is the problem? What is going on?) Pragmatics (What helps? What skills are needed? Systemic network (Who should do what? Who has permission?) Reflection (What tools and what relationships do we use to navigate dilemmas, cultural and Cultural and Organisational difficulties? How do we create and review local knowledge?) When a case is told in several living details it becomes memorable (Burnham,2013) Reflecting as a performance (Wilson, 2007) a preparedness for action. Focusing on collaborative performance in order to promote generative processes. What has resonated with you the most/ least about today? What was the most/ least helpful part of the experience? How might this way of working help in your work with others? From today what thoughts and ideas might you take into your work with other agencies? Andersen, T (1987). The Reflecting Team: Dialogue and Meta Dialogue in Clinical Work. Family Process 26: Andersen, T (1995). The Reflecting team in action. In: Friedman, S. (ed) Collaborative Practice in Family Therapy. Guildford Press. Andersen, H. & Jensen, P (2007). Innovations in Reflective Practice. Karnac books. Boscolo, L., Cecchin, G., Hoffman, L., & Penn, P. (1987). Milan Systemic Family Therapy. Conversations in Therapy and Practice. New York: Basic Books. Dallos, R & Draper, R (2000).An Introduction to Family Therapy. Open University Press. Clarke, G. And Rowan, A. (2009). Looking again at the team dimension in systemic psychotherapy: is attending to group process a critical context for practice? Journal of Family Therapy, 31: Epston, D., White, M. & Ben (1995). Consulting your consultants: A means to the co- construction of alternative knowledges. In Friedman (ed) The Reflective Team in Action: Collaborative Practice in Family Therapy (pp ). New York: Guildford Press. Lax, W. (1995) Offering reflections: some theoretical and practical considerations. In Friedman (ed) The Reflective Team in Action: Collaborative Practice in Family Therapy (pp ). New York: Guildford Press. Vedeler, A. (2011) Dialogical Practices: Diving into the Poetic Movement. Thesis submitted for degree of Doctorate in Systemic Practice of the University of Bedforshire. Wilson, J. (2007) The performance of practice: Enhancing the repertoire of therapy with children and Families. London: Karnac.