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Systemic Therapy Course

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Psychology

Systemic Therapy Course

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Systemic Therapy Course

Name: Systemic Therapy Course
Price: 204 GBP
Rating: 4.5 (44 reviews)

4.5

Master the full spectrum of systemic therapy — from foundational theory to advanced clinical techniques — and transform how you work with families, couples, and relational systems. This comprehensive course equips mental health professionals with evidence-based tools grounded in structural, strategic, narrative, and solution-focused models. Develop the skills to assess complex family dynamics, design targeted interventions, and develop a coherent personal therapeutic approach.

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What you will learn:

You will develop a deep understanding of systemic thinking, starting with core concepts like circular causality, feedback loops, and relational patterns. You will learn to assess and map family structures using genograms, systemic hypotheses, and circular questioning. The course covers major therapeutic models, including structural, Milan, narrative, and solution-focused approaches, giving you a versatile clinical toolkit. You will also gain specialised skills for working with couples, blended families, divorcing systems, and LGBTQ+ families. Trauma-informed practice, cultural humility, and ethical decision-making are integrated throughout. By the end, you will be equipped to integrate multiple models and develop a reflective, evidence-informed personal practice.

How you study in practice Systemic Therapy Course

How you practise Systemic Therapy Course

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Course content

8 Chapters • 39 LessonsDuration between 4 and 360 hours (you decide)

Chapter 1See details

Foundations of Systemic Thinking

Lesson 1 • Epistemology and Ethics in Systemic Work
Examines constructivist and social constructionist epistemologies that ground systemic practice. Ethical responsibilities unique to working with multiple clients simultaneously are addressed.
Lesson 2 • Core Systemic Concepts
Introduces circular causality, homeostasis, and equifinality as foundational ideas. These concepts underpin every technique taught in subsequent chapters.
Lesson 3 • History and Philosophical Roots
Traces systemic therapy from cybernetics and general systems theory to contemporary practice. Provides the conceptual lineage needed to understand why systemic methods work.
Lesson 4 • The Relational Lens
Shifts clinical focus from the individual to relationships and context. Students practise observing behaviour as embedded in relational systems.

Chapter 2See details

Assessment and Mapping Family Systems

Lesson 1 • Circular and Systemic Questioning
Introduces circular, reflexive, and difference questions as assessment and intervention tools. These questioning styles reveal relational dynamics invisible to linear inquiry.
Lesson 2 • Formulating a Systemic Hypothesis
Synthesises assessment data into a working systemic hypothesis linking symptom to relational function. Hypotheses remain tentative, guiding rather than constraining the therapist.
Lesson 3 • Structural Assessment of the Family
Applies structural concepts to evaluate hierarchy, subsystems, and boundary permeability. Assessment findings directly shape structural interventions introduced later.
Lesson 4 • Genogram Construction and Analysis
Teaches structured mapping of multigenerational family data using standardised notation. Genograms reveal patterns, triangles, and legacies that inform intervention.
Lesson 5 • Joining and Engaging the System
Covers techniques for building therapeutic alliance with multiple family members simultaneously. Effective joining prevents premature dropout and establishes safety.

Chapter 3See details

Structural Family Therapy Techniques

Lesson 1 • Boundary-Making Interventions
Covers techniques to strengthen diffuse boundaries and increase permeability of rigid ones. Boundary work restores appropriate hierarchy and subsystem functioning.
Lesson 2 • Structural Model Core Concepts
Reviews structure, subsystems, and boundaries as targets for therapeutic change. Connects structural theory to the assessment skills built in Chapter 2.
Lesson 3 • Enactment as Primary Technique
Teaches therapists to prompt live interaction sequences in session to observe and restructure patterns. Enactment transforms talk about problems into direct systemic change.
Lesson 4 • Unbalancing and Challenging the System
Teaches deliberate therapist alignment with one member to destabilise rigid hierarchies. Unbalancing creates productive disequilibrium that motivates structural change.
Lesson 5 • Reframing and Relabeling
Introduces cognitive reframing to shift family members' meaning-making about symptoms and roles. Reframes reduce blame and open space for structural reorganisation.

Chapter 4See details

Strategic and Milan Systemic Approaches

Lesson 1 • Strategic Therapy Principles
Covers Haley and Madanes' problem-focused, directive approach to changing behavioural sequences. Strategic thinking prioritises pragmatic change over insight.
Lesson 2 • Invariant Prescription
Teaches Selvini Palazzoli's invariant prescription for families with psychotic or severely enmeshed members. Students learn precise delivery and follow-up protocols.
Lesson 3 • Milan Systemic Model
Introduces the Milan team's use of hypothesising, circularity, and neutrality as core therapeutic stances. The model emphasises information over instruction.
Lesson 4 • Positive Connotation and Rituals
Covers positive connotation of the symptom and family rituals as Milan-derived change tools. Rituals punctuate transitions and disrupt rigid relational sequences.
Lesson 5 • Paradoxical Interventions
Teaches symptom prescription, restraining change, and therapeutic double binds for resistant systems. Paradox is used ethically and strategically, not punitively.

Chapter 5See details

Narrative and Collaborative Approaches

Lesson 1 • Unique Outcomes and Re-authoring
Covers identifying exceptions to the problem story and building alternative narratives around them. Re-authoring conversations thicken preferred identity stories.
Lesson 2 • Externalisation of problems
Teaches the practice of separating the person from the problem through linguistic and relational moves. Externalisation reduces shame and opens space for agency.
Lesson 3 • Witnessing and Definitional Ceremonies
Teaches outsider witness practices and definitional ceremonies to thicken preferred narratives socially. Community and relational resources are mobilised as therapeutic agents.
Lesson 4 • Collaborative Language Systems
Introduces Anderson and Goolishian's not-knowing stance and dialogical conversation as therapeutic tools. Students practise generating shared meaning without imposing expert frameworks.
Lesson 5 • Narrative Therapy Foundations
Introduces White and Epston's narrative model, emphasising stories as the medium of identity and problem maintenance. Connects narrative ideas to systemic epistemology.

Chapter 6See details

Solution-Focused and Strength-Based Methods

Lesson 1 • The Miracle Question and Variants
Teaches the miracle question and its adaptations to elicit detailed preferred-future descriptions. Vivid future visions motivate behavioural change in the present.
Lesson 2 • Exception-Finding and Amplification
Identifies times when the problem is absent or less severe and amplifies those exceptions. Exception sequences reveal existing client solutions that can be expanded.
Lesson 3 • Solution-Focused Foundations
Covers de Shazer and Berg's core assumptions: problems and solutions are not necessarily related. Students shift from problem analysis to solution construction.
Lesson 4 • Integrating Strength-Based Approaches
Synthesises solution-focused methods with narrative and structural techniques for complex presentations. Students develop flexible integration strategies rather than rigid protocol adherence.
Lesson 5 • Scaling Questions in Practice
Applies scaling questions to assess progress, motivation, confidence, and next steps. Scales make abstract change concrete and trackable across sessions.

Chapter 7See details

Working with Specific Relational Configurations

Lesson 1 • Systemic Couple Therapy
Addresses relational cycles, attachment dynamics, and power imbalances in couple work. Students use circular questioning and enactment to interrupt negative interaction cycles.
Lesson 2 • Blended and Stepfamily Systems
Examines the unique structural challenges of stepfamilies, including loyalty conflicts and role ambiguity. Interventions address boundary clarity and stepparent integration.
Lesson 3 • Single-Parent and Extended Family Systems
Addresses the structural demands on single-parent households and the role of extended kin networks. Interventions strengthen parental hierarchy without pathologising family form.
Lesson 4 • LGBTQ+ Families and Diverse Structures
Applies systemic concepts to LGBTQ+ families, chosen families, and non-traditional structures. Students practise affirmative, non-pathologising systemic assessment and intervention.
Lesson 5 • Divorce, Separation, and Co-parenting
Covers systemic work with families navigating separation, custody conflict, and co-parenting challenges. Therapist neutrality and child-focused framing are central skills.

Chapter 8See details

Advanced Integration and Clinical Supervision

Lesson 1 • Reflective Practice and Self-of-Therapist
Develops therapist self-awareness regarding personal family-of-origin patterns and their clinical impact. Reflective practice is positioned as an ongoing professional discipline.
Lesson 2 • Working with Complexity and Chronicity
Addresses systemic work with multi-problem families, chronic mental health conditions, and entrenched patterns. Students adapt pacing and intervention intensity to complex presentations.
Lesson 3 • Outcome Measurement and Evidence-Based Practice
Introduces routine outcome monitoring tools and the evidence base for systemic therapies. Students integrate feedback-informed practice into their clinical workflow.
Lesson 4 • Live Supervision and Reflecting Teams
Covers the use of one-way mirrors, earphones, and reflecting team formats in systemic training. Students experience both supervised and supervisory roles.
Lesson 5 • Integrating Multiple Systemic Models
Teaches principled integration of structural, strategic, narrative, and solution-focused approaches. Students develop decision frameworks for selecting and combining models.

Certification

Your valid completion certificate

This course is for you:

Licensed therapist: wants to shift from individual to relational clinical work.
Graduate student in counselling: building a specialisation before entering full-time practice.
Social worker: seeking structured tools for family-level assessment and intervention.
Psychiatrist or psychologist: adding systemic methods to complement existing clinical training.
Career changer entering mental health: drawn specifically to family and couples work.
Experienced clinician: ready to formalise an integrative, reflective personal practice model.

What our students say

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