Literary Reading in the Training and Continuing Development of Family Therapists

Abstract

SUMMARY Family Therapists are trained to work with relationships in families and other groups. Recent moves towards more egalitarian and cooperative therapeutic methods have made it important for them to concentrate on developing their own personal resources, the better to respond to the needs of clients of all ages. The skills required by systems therapists are discussed and some account is given of the context in which both training and therapy take place. Literary texts can be important sources of inspiration for the creation of fertile therapeutic environments, but the activity of reading (entering into a dialogical, transformative relationship with a text) can also help to enhance many of the skills required by therapists in their work. Examples of the theoretical correspondence between current thinking in systemic practice and theories relating to reading and literary text, including narrative, are given briefly. Some account will be given of the research process and findings which inform the above and reference made to the use of literary examples in personal and professional development for groups of practitioners and trainees.