Description:
Educational Objectives:
*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*
Outline:
Introduction and Opening Remarks
Donald Meichenbaum and Salvador Minuchin are announced as featured speakers
Meichenbaum raises concerns about managed care, accountability, and the rise of manualized treatments in psychotherapy
Future of Psychotherapy and Training
Meichenbaum critiques the limitations of manualized approaches and emphasizes skill development
Envisions future training involving computerized manuals, interactive video discs, and remote learning
Proposes widespread dissemination of therapeutic tools to non-professionals, including families
Predicts integration of interactive television for addressing clinical problems
Demonstration of Interactive Films
Meichenbaum demonstrates training films showing scenarios (e.g., angry parent and principal)
Films present coping strategies, prompting analysis and discussion with clients
Multimedia framed as a supplement to traditional therapy, not a replacement
Invites therapists to imagine multimedia's potential in their own work
Salvador Minuchin's Perspective on Psychotherapy
Minuchin emphasizes the relational core of therapy and the therapist as a teacher of new language
Critiques long-term therapy and urges therapist accountability
Expresses pessimism about the future: fears oversimplification and loss of humanity in therapy
Advocates for social therapy and systemic interventions beyond the individual
Discussion on the Role of Elders in Psychotherapy
Meichenbaum seeks advice on becoming an “elder” in the field
Minuchin recommends choosing manageable, meaningful interventions to avoid burnout
Advises maintaining both pragmatism and vision in elderhood
Exchange concludes with appreciation and opens to audience Q&A
Audience Questions and Responses
Concern raised about prevention's absence in conference topics
Meichenbaum supports prevention and multimedia systems as scalable interventions
Question about systemic work in settings like corrections; Minuchin and Meichenbaum advise data collection and working with key influencers
Discussion reinforces need to think politically and practically in complex systems
Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks
Anecdote shared about Carl Rogers and Virginia Satir’s legacy
Caution urged regarding premature publication or commercialization of codified treatments
Both speakers stress maintaining the human element in therapy despite pressures for standardization
Diversity in training discussed; advice given to stay informed and critical
Final question on morale in long-term therapy; Meichenbaum invites follow-up discussion
Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D in Clinical Psychology is currently Research Director of Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention, Miami (melissainstitute.org). He is one of the founders of cognitive behavior therapy. He was voted one of the most influential psychotherapists of the 20th century. Latest books include "Roadmap to Resilience" (www.roadmaptoresilience.com) and "Evolution of Cognitive Behavior Therapy: A Personal and Professional Journey."
Salvador Minuchin, MD, developed Structural Family Therapy, which addresses problems within a family by charting the relationships between family members, or between subsets of family. He was Director of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. Although it was minimally staffed when he began, under his tutelage the Clinic grew to become one of the most modeled and respected child guidance facilities in the world. In 1981, Minuchin began his own family therapy center in New York. After his retirement in 1996, the center was renamed the Minuchin Center. Dr. Minuchin is the author of many notable books, including many classics. His latest is Mastering Family Therapy: Journeys of Growth and Transformation. In 2007, a survey of 2,600 practitioners named Minuchin as one of the ten most influential therapists of the past quarter-century.