Training General Psychiatry Residents in Family Therapy: Some Effects and Perspectives

Abstract

Data presented in this paper indicate that psychiatry residents are highly receptive to family therapy training and that such training can be integrated into a general psychiatry residency program. Thirty Post-Graduate Year II (PGY II) psychiatry residents who were taught in a family therapy seminar reported increases in family therapy treatment skills, transfer of family therapy treatment skills to other types of therapy, and predicted future use of family therapy after establishing practice. No evidence of pro-active inhibition was found. Course content, placement in curriculum, selection of training models, and premature cognitive closure on the part of residents are discussed as issues which are important in training psychiatry residents in family therapy.