Do we really understand? An experientail exercise for training family therapists

Not only did many of the therapists-in-training become more curious about a different ethnic background, but also many expressed an increased willingness to meet with clients of diverse ethnic backgrounds after participating in this exercise. Others felt more comfortable interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, even outside of the therapeutic setting. For example, one student reported to the class an experience that she had after she had completed this exercise. While she was working as a hospital chaplain, a Latino couple who spoke only Spanish came into the emergency room with a young boy who was seriously injured. No one working in the emergency room spoke or understood Spanish, and as a result, no one even attempted to respond to them or their obvious distress. The student found that the confidence she had gained from this training exercise allowed her to approach this couple, even though she did not know Spanish. She laughed as she explained that it had even come in handy to have learned in the class exercise that "el nino" meant "little boy" in Spanish, and so was able to say to them "El nino, okay."

Attention to Assumptions about Gender

This training exercise also helped to reveal certain gender biases and assumptions that the therapists-- in-training brought with them into therapy, and the potential for their assumptions to affect what they chose to do in therapy. In one situation, the therapist thought that she needed to help give the wife a voice in therapy, as it appeared the husband was quite dominant in the session; he was talking more, and in a louder voice than the wife. The cultural background of the couple also influenced the conclusions reached by this therapist. The student wrote: "In watching the interaction between them, I wondered about the role of men and women in Greece and the role of patriarchy in the Greek culture. I was concerned that the wife not be overpowered by the husband." As they debriefed, the couple shared with the therapist that in the scenario they had created for the role play, one of the main complaints that brought them to therapy was the wife's wish for her husband to talk more. The husband's behavior in the interview was an exception, rather than the rule.

Creates Insight into the Differences in Working with Individuals and Dyads

One final benefit that had not been obvious when this assignment was first given was the opportunity for students to experience the advantage of couples therapy as a therapeutic modality. Some of the students who had interviewed an individual for the mock therapy exercise pointed out the differences they observed when a couple was used for the interview in the classroom project. They noticed how they were able to make use of interactional cues, such as their amount of eye contact, their physical proximity to each other, and the relative amount of time each talked. One student commented on how much easier it was to interview the couple, because they were able to observe the couple dynamics, rather than have all of the conversation be one on one.