Learning and Teaching Systemic Therapy

Ep 14: The Facilitative Systemic Intervention Skills (FSIS) Measure: Research-informed Clinical Practice to Train Effective Therapists

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Today on the podcast, we have Dr. Adam Jones from Texas Woman's University and his amazing Master's student, Madeline Schock.

Questions about the FSIS Rating Scale that we discussed today:

  1. You helped develop the Facilitative Systemic Intervention Skills measure. Can you help us understand a little bit about why you developed the measure and what it is?
  2. How you measure these systemic therapy skills? Can we briefly list the skills and discuss them? 
  3. The FSIS captures 8 distinct dimensions of systemic intervention skills. Can you walk us through how you identified these specific eight dimensions? How did you determine that effective family therapists were demonstrating these particular skills?
  4. Are the skills intended to be viewed as a sequence, like a step-by-step guide to responding?
  5. Your research suggests we can now measure and predict therapeutic effectiveness with specific behavioral indicators. How does this evidence-based approach challenge or support traditional MFT training methods? Are there traditions in our field - like live supervision or family-of-origin work - that you think we should reconsider?
  6. You are training students to rate  therapist responses  and use the FSIS measures. Madeline, what is this training like? What has been your experience in working on this research while you’re also developing as a therapist? Have you noticed the research informing what you do in the therapy room?
  7. How is your FSIS research changing how you teach family therapy techniques?
  8. Talk to me about your collaborations with other universities to implement their own FSIS projects and research studies. How would faculty begin using this? 
  9. Looking ahead, how do you envision the FSIS and similar research tools transforming MFT education?

    10. Interested in learning more about FSIS and getting trained to use it?

    Check out this linktree for more information: https://linktr.ee/fsis8 

    Dr. Adam Jones bio:

    Adam Jones, PhD LMFT-Associate is an assistant professor of Family Therapy at Texas Woman’s University. He enjoys working with students at TWU in research, teaching, and clinical training. His research looks at therapist skill development. He is a co-developer of the  Facilitative Systemic Intervention Skills measure with Dr. Myrna Friedlander. He directs an awesome team of raters who rate therapist responses to challenging vignettes. He has a small private practice and provides therapy services at the TWU Stroke Center in Dallas Texas. He also likes to play the piano and the guitar, though he isn’t particularly good at either of them. He can be reached via email: [email protected]

    Madeline Schock bio:

    Madeline is a master’s student at Texas Woman's University, pursuing a degree in marriage and family therapy. During her time at TWU, she has completed clinical hours at the local school district’s Family Center, worked as a research assistant for two professors, and served as vice president of the Student Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. Her primary therapeutic approach is narrative therapy. She is particularly interested in working with neurodivergent children and adolescents, as well as families experiencing or adjusting to divorce. Her work with the FSIS task has significantly shaped her clinical development, and she hopes to continue growing as a therapist as she prepares for licensure and begins seeing clients as an LMFT-Associate.

    She can be reached via email: [email protected] 

     

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    Learning and Teaching Systemic TherapyBy Society for the Teaching of Marriage and Family Therapy