Not ‘Just a Talking Head’: Experiences of Australian Public Mental Health Clinicians Implementing a Dialogical Family Therapy Approach for Young People with Severe Mental Health Concerns

Sidis, A; Ramirez, J; Dawson, L; River, J; Buus, N; Singh, R; Pickard, J; Deane, F

Not ‘Just a Talking Head’: Experiences of Australian Public Mental Health Clinicians Implementing a Dialogical Family Therapy Approach for Young People with Severe Mental Health Concerns

Sidis, A Ramirez, J Dawson, L River, J

Buus, N Singh, R Pickard, J Deane, F

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Publisher:: WILEY
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 2020, 41, (1), pp. 6-28
Issue Date:: 2020-03-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Sidis, A
dc.contributor.author	Ramirez, J
dc.contributor.author	Dawson, L
dc.contributor.author	River, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5270-4013
dc.contributor.author	Buus, N
dc.contributor.author	Singh, R
dc.contributor.author	Pickard, J
dc.contributor.author	Deane, F
dc.date.accessioned	2022-10-30T19:42:33Z
dc.date.available	2022-10-30T19:42:33Z
dc.date.issued	2020-03-01
dc.identifier.citation	Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 2020, 41, (1), pp. 6-28
dc.identifier.issn	0814-723X
dc.identifier.issn	1467-8438
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/162950
dc.description.abstract	The evidence for efficacy of family-based approaches for psychological problems is extensive, although model-specific effects have not been established. However, implementation of family therapy approaches in tertiary mental health settings has been challenging due to factors such as negative staff attitudes and difficulties engaging families. Open Dialogue is an emerging network-based therapy that has a focus on genuine collaboration, flexibility, authenticity, and openness. This study describes the experiences and perspectives of clinicians, service users and families, following training in Open Dialogue, within a child and adolescent mental health service, and an adolescent inpatient unit in public mental health services. A total of 16 participants (11 clinicians and five service users and family members) took part in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences with Open Dialogue. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse interview transcripts. Four major themes were identified from interviews with clinicians: valuing responses from families, learning from families and privileging their expertise, hesitation about doing family therapy, and engaging with authenticity and flexibility. Three themes emerged from family interviews: hesitation about doing family therapy, valuing collaboration and openness, and opening space for more talk. These themes are relevant to challenges of family therapy in public mental health settings and future directions for implementation.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	WILEY
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1002/anzf.1407
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1607 Social Work, 1701 Psychology
dc.subject.classification	Family Studies
dc.title	Not ‘Just a Talking Head’: Experiences of Australian Public Mental Health Clinicians Implementing a Dialogical Family Therapy Approach for Young People with Severe Mental Health Concerns
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	41
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services
utslib.for	1607 Social Work
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-10-30T19:42:32Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	41
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

The evidence for efficacy of family-based approaches for psychological problems is extensive, although model-specific effects have not been established. However, implementation of family therapy approaches in tertiary mental health settings has been challenging due to factors such as negative staff attitudes and difficulties engaging families. Open Dialogue is an emerging network-based therapy that has a focus on genuine collaboration, flexibility, authenticity, and openness. This study describes the experiences and perspectives of clinicians, service users and families, following training in Open Dialogue, within a child and adolescent mental health service, and an adolescent inpatient unit in public mental health services. A total of 16 participants (11 clinicians and five service users and family members) took part in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences with Open Dialogue. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse interview transcripts. Four major themes were identified from interviews with clinicians: valuing responses from families, learning from families and privileging their expertise, hesitation about doing family therapy, and engaging with authenticity and flexibility. Three themes emerged from family interviews: hesitation about doing family therapy, valuing collaboration and openness, and opening space for more talk. These themes are relevant to challenges of family therapy in public mental health settings and future directions for implementation.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/162950