Integrative Practice for the Beginning Family Therapist: Bringing it Back to Basics

The practice of integrating various therapeutic disciplines and models in therapy has traditionally been the domain of the experienced practitioner. To encourage the newly trained systemic therapist to embark on their journey in the artistry of integrative practice, this paper addresses the question: ‘What guidance and encouragement could be offered to the beginning family therapist to practice in an integrative way?’ Central to this paper is the view that the discipline of systemic thinking itself facilitates integration. Based on the notion that complex models of integrative practice may not serve the beginning clinician, three suggestions are offered. First, the overarching theories that support systemic family therapy also provide a platform for moving between schools of family therapy and our professions of origin. Second, the role of common factors is a useful and important guiding principle to practice in an integrative way. And finally, an essential ingredient of integrative practice is the return to therapeutic presence and attunement.