Common Factors' Role in Accredited MFT Training Programs

Common factors proponents discuss the benefits and methods of including common factors in marriage and family therapy (MFT) training; yet there are no empirical investigations of how common factors are incorporated into MFT curricula. The purpose of this study was to obtain a baseline understanding of common factors' role in MFT training. Thirty‐one directors of COAMFTE‐ and CACREP‐accredited MFT training programs responded to a survey about the inclusion of common factors in their training program, as well as the benefits, challenges, and students' reactions to common factors training. Findings show that common factors are regularly included in MFT training programs and have garnered largely positive responses. Additional results are discussed regarding the implications of common factors in MFT training.     

An evaluation of transit procurement training

We evaluated a training course called “Orientation to Transit Procurement”, designed and conducted by the National Transit Institute. This course is designed to provide Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grantees an overview of regulations and best practices related to the procurement process. Our objective in conducting the evaluation was to understand how transit agency staff made changes in procurement practices in response to the course training. The evaluation was mixed mode: an Internet survey followed by in-depth interviews with a small group of respondents. Survey respondents were also provided with an open-ended question providing us with additional context for our evaluation. Results show that the training is substantially successful at meeting the goal of improving procurement practices at transit agencies; indeed, most respondents report making changes at their agencies as the proximate result of the training. This was at odds with our exploration of knowledge of procurement topics, as most respondents gave inaccurate answers on multiple-choice “knowledge questions”. This may have been due to question structure or, more likely, the nature of online surveys. Suitable training on the procurement of information technology was also a main concern. The lack of training in this area is indicative of the broader challenge facing public transit agencies in how to incorporate new forms of technology into their existing practices and bureaucratic structures.     

Human Sexuality Education in Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Programs

Given the likelihood that marriage and family therapists will encounter clients with sexual concerns, it is important to know how graduate training programs are preparing future clinicians to work with this domain of life. Sixty‐nine marriage and family therapy (MFT) program directors completed an online survey to examine how sexual health education is integrated into graduate training programs. Findings indicate that while the majority of program directors value sexuality curriculum, and most programs require at least one course in this area, there are barriers to privileging sex topics in MFT graduate programs. Barriers include few MFT faculties with expertise in human sexuality and marginalized sexual health topics. Implications for training MFT graduate students and their work with future clients are discussed.     

Integrative Systemic Therapy: Lessons on Collaboration and Training for the 21st Century

The field of couple, marital, and family therapy (CMFT) is at an important juncture of identity development and synthesis. Integrative Systemic Therapy (IST) is a problem‐centered metaframeworks approach that meets the growing needs of family therapists working with diverse and complex family systems and restores the field to its original focus on collaboration. This paper describes the process by which IST developed featuring anecdotes from live interviews with the founders. We briefly outline IST's theoretical pillars and the essential way IST practitioners deliver treatment including a blueprint for therapy. Finally, we propose that IST is a comprehensive, systemic guide uniquely beneficial to CMFT training and discuss our approach to integrating IST into our training of students in a COAMFTE accredited program.     

Asian Women,Job Training and the Social Organization of Immigrant Labor Markets

This paper examines the entry of Asian immigrant women into a gendered labor market via government-funded job training programs. The focus is on the intake processing of clients into an employment training program operated by a community based organization. The study reveals that women's family responsibilities and the cultural capital they bring function to screen them into or out of training programs and ultimately shape their location in the workforce. The study thus draws attention to how race, class, and gender enter into the organization of Asian immigrant women into the labor market. This investigation is based in institutional ethnography (Smith 1987), a research strategy which displays how activities in a particular setting are coordinated with more extended forms of social organization. The study shows that the overriding concern with successful placement in a job as mandated by government regulations is a critical factor in selecting the women for these programs.     

Addiction Social Work Fellowship Program in Canada

Substance use disorders (SUD) disproportionally contribute to the global social and economic cost of disease; however, their treatment has been inadequate in large part due to an enduring research to practice gap in which competencies for treating and preventing SUDs are often lacking from social work education curricula. Training social workers in managing SUDs has been separated from nurse and physician training, partly due to the long-standing divide between the behavioral health and medical care system. Recently, a new interdisciplinary fellowship in addiction social work, nursing and medicine has been established in Vancouver, Canada. We describe the novel fellowship program and outline initial impact of the training on knowledge and skills in addiction social work from our qualitative evaluation of the fellowship. We conclude that training social workers, and other allied health professionals alongside physicians and nurses may extend the reach of this type of training program even further.     

Do training programs work? An assessment of pharmacists activities in the field of chemical dependency

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to determine if a selected sample of pharmacists who had attended a chemical dependency training program were performing more chemical dependency related activities than a group of American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) members who had not had this training. Additionally, an assessment of the perceived barriers to performing chemical dependencyrelated activities was performed. DESIGN: A confidential mail questionnaire was sent to 305 Utah School participants and 305 APhA members who had not participated in the program (See Appendix). RESULTS: Respondents who had received educational training in chemical dependency were more likely to perform the following activities: lecture to community groups and health care professionals about chemical dependency, participate in a pharmacists' recovery program, provide patients with information about treatment centers, and counsel patients about the alcohol in over-the-counter products. Respondents who had not received chemical dependency training indicated that the following barriers prevented them from taking a more active role in the chemical dependency field: lack of knowledge of chemical dependency resources in the community, unaware of how to get involved with the state recovery program, belief that involvement in the state recovery program would hurt their professional reputation, belief that chemically dependent individuals cannot be rehabilitated, and uncomfortable working with chemically dependent patients. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists who have attended substance abuse training programs are performing more chemical dependency activities than pharmacists who have not received training in chemical dependency. In addition, different barriers to performing chemical dependency related activities exist between pharmacists with and without training in this field.     

Social Return on Investment Analysis

This article uses a social return on investment (SROI) methodology to analyze the social impact of a social enterprise offering a job and skills training program to an unemployed, largely female population. The social enterprise is based in Toronto (Canada) and run by a nonprofit agency dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of women, primarily immigrants, through access to employment. We focus our analysis on a job and skills training program that provides clients with the skills and tools that they need to successfully seek employment in their efforts to (re‐)enter the Canadian labor market. Our goal is to determine the tangible and intangible program outcomes by applying and testing the SROI methodology.     

Assessment of the monitoring and evaluation system of a population-based program: Theory-driven evaluation approach

The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of a monitoring and evaluation system (M&E) for a population-based program and to identify factors influencing its performance. The state health department provided a grant, guide, and training for health districts to implement the program and report quarterly and annually to the M&E. Some health districts did not meet this requirement. We also found that the M&E did not adequately capture the actual work of the districts in communities as related to the work plan. We identified several factors that negatively affected the performances of the M&E. For example, the state and health districts did not have a shared vision on how to develop and implement the program, and what to report to the M&E. We proposed strategies that could improve the timeliness and content of reports to the M&E, as well as its utilization in the future.     

An Effective Adoption Education Program That Can Be Replicated

ABSTRACT

The article details the creation, development and organization of a public adoption education agency. Founded in 1986, Adoption Option, Inc. has become a catalyst for a broad array of adoption education activities in Southwestern Ohio. These activities center around a three-step education initiative which targets three groups: (1) people who have direct contact, and a counseling role, with pregnant women/teenagers and their partners and families; (2) adolescents who are being schooled in family life, sexuality and health programs; and (3) the general public. The three program areas for carrying our the agency's mission are: (1) a training program for individuals who counsel and assist women and teens with unplanned pregnancies which provides factual information about adoption and how to present it in a non-directive way; (2) educational programs to put adoption into school-based health curricula aimed at students ages 12-18; (3) a media initiative to convey accurate information about adoption. The agency and its successful programs can be replicated by individuals who are interested in making their communities more adoption-literate and adoption friendly.     

Promoting Evidence-Based,Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice

ABSTRACT

Given the human costs of psychological trauma, social workers should be well versed in trauma-informed care (TIC). This framework helps guide the efforts of systems, organizations, and practitioners toward reducing trauma or mitigating its effects. The field has created TIC principles, although they have yet to be fully realized as practical applications. This article makes the case that theoretically and empirically grounded content on trauma should be foundational to social work education. We also argue that social work practice will be advanced by clearly defining trauma and by distinguishing TIC from trauma-focused and trauma-sensitive approaches. Finally, a TIC certificate program illustrates how graduate student training and social work practice are enhanced by integrating trauma content into classroom and field settings.     

Reflections on Competence and Ideology in Social Work Education

The American system of social services has been structured to fit the needs of a system of late industrial state welfare capitalism Much confusion about the goals of social work education springs from a lack of understanding about the nature of our social system and the changes that have resulted from the emergence of technology as a major social institution This paper explores the changes occurring in our society and discusses how a more harmonious balance might be struck in our educational program for social work by taking into account the impact of technology and its possibilities for social service     

On-Line,Computer-Based,Interactive Simulations: Bridging Classroom and Field

ABSTRACT

This paper briefly describes two educational tutorial programs, and the efforts of this author to evaluate the effectiveness of these computer mediated programs. One interactive program is designed to teach students how to apply crisis concepts to a practice simulation, and the second program is designed to teach students how to assess lethality with a suicidal client. Formal evaluations by students of these two programs and student performance on a follow-up quiz have produced positive results. A comparison study of classes who completed these programs and a class that did not have the training has also produced significant, favorable results.     

Does the Person‐of‐the‐Therapist Training (POTT) Promote Self‐Care? Personal Gains of MFT Trainees Following POTT: A Retrospective Thematic Analysis

As we recognize how taxing our profession can be, therapist's self‐care has become a salient topic in mental health. However, we are still discerning how to promote self‐care in our practice and in training. In this paper, we present a study on the personal gains that MFT students experienced after participating in the Person‐of‐the‐Therapist Training (POTT). We propose that the reported changes (better understanding of self, change to self, relational changes, and change as a process) constitute improvements in the trainees’ well‐being, and can therefore be considered self‐caring behaviors and practices. We state that models like POTT, that focus on embracing our vulnerability, can help clinicians be more caring toward ourselves. We conclude this paper by presenting clinical and training recommendations.     

Developing Financial Management Training in Low-Income Communities

Abstract

As welfare policy contractions and declines in real wages have placed severe financial pressures on low-income families, programs to improve financial management practices and to help the poor accumulate assets have grown. This article examines the need for such programs and the implications associated with implementing two prominent training strategies-one that focuses solely on financial management training and another that combines such training with savings incentives.

Based on data from a large financial management training program, we find that knowledge deficits about basic financial issues are substantial, and that the type of financial training program offered has important implications with respect to the subgroups of low-income people likely to be served within a community. We discuss program issues critical to the implementation of such programs in low-income communities, with a focus upon more carefully attending to their participant empowerment and community development potential.     

Analyzing free-text survey responses: An accessible strategy for developing patient-centered programs and program evaluation

Despite widespread availability of yoga in the Veterans Health Administration (VA), it remains unclear how to best evaluate yoga programs. This is particularly problematic for programs aimed at veterans with mental health concerns, as evaluation typically focuses narrowly upon mental health symptom severity, even though program participants may have other health-related priorities. We analyzed responses to free-text questions on 237 surveys completed by veterans with mental health concerns enrolled in a yoga program at six VA clinics in Louisiana to characterize veteran participants’ experiences with yoga. Qualitative analysis resulted in 15 domains reflecting veterans’ individual health-related values and priorities. We use results to illustrate the potential for analysis of free-text responses to reveal valuable insights into patient experiences, demonstrating how these data can inform patient-centered program evaluation. The approach we present is more accessible to those responsible for decision-making about local programs than conventional methods of analyzing qualitive evaluation data.     

Using developmental evaluation and community-based participatory research to develop a model of supportive housing

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and developmental evaluation (DE) have emerged over recent decades as separate approaches for addressing complex social issues. Current literature offers little with respect to the use of CBPR and DE in combination, although the two approaches are complementary. Through the current paper, we outline how CBPR and DE were used to develop a model of supportive housing for teen families. More specifically, we describe the structures and processes that contributed to this development, including (1) our partnership approach, (2) pooled resources, (3) regular opportunities for collaboration and reflection, (4) integration of multiple data sources, (5) ongoing feedback and knowledge dissemination, and (6) adjustments to program practices. We end by providing insights into the lessons that we learned through this project. Through this paper, we describe how researchers and community partners can collaboratively use CBPR and DE to develop a program model in complex community settings. Insights are offered that will be important for researchers, evaluators, and practitioners seeking to develop programming in response to complex community issues.     

A comparison of linear and systems thinking approaches for program evaluation illustrated using the Indiana Interdisciplinary GK-12

Logic models are based on linear relationships between program resources, activities, and outcomes, and have been used widely to support both program development and evaluation. While useful in describing some programs, the linear nature of the logic model makes it difficult to capture the complex relationships within larger, multifaceted programs. Causal loop diagrams based on a systems thinking approach can better capture a multidimensional, layered program model while providing a more complete understanding of the relationship between program elements, which enables evaluators to examine influences and dependencies between and within program components. Few studies describe how to conceptualize and apply systems models for educational program evaluation. The goal of this paper is to use our NSF-funded, Interdisciplinary GK-12 project: Bringing Authentic Problem Solving in STEM to Rural Middle Schools to illustrate a systems thinking approach to model a complex educational program to aid in evaluation. GK-12 pairs eight teachers with eight STEM doctoral fellows per program year to implement curricula in middle schools. We demonstrate how systems thinking provides added value by modeling the participant groups, instruments, outcomes, and other factors in ways that enhance the interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data. Limitations of the model include added complexity. Implications include better understanding of interactions and outcomes and analyses reflecting interacting or conflicting variables.