Helpfulness of reflections in family therapy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Helpfulness of reflections: Therapeutic outcomes and perceptions of the reflecting team in family therapy.
IRAS ID
248849
Contact name
Stephanie Hicks
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 30 days
Research summary
In family therapy reflecting teams are often used. This involves a small team of around three practitioners who listen quietly to the family therapy session, each developing their own ideas about what is observed and discussed. At a point during the session the family and main therapist will then hear the team reflect. The ideas shared by the reflecting team will be related to what they have observed and comments are made in a speculative way. After this, the main therapist and the family can discuss what was said by the reflecting team. Reflections are made in a way which means family members don’t have to find all or any of the new ideas helpful, as they are offered as multiple different perspectives.
This research hopes to find out more about what kind of things reflecting teams say that is helpful for family members. We think that certain types of comments from reflecting teams might be more helpful than others. We also think that when comments are helpful, they might help families make changes and feel like therapy is working for them. If we find out that some comments are more helpful than others then we can make sure that reflecting teams say more helpful comments and less unhelpful ones.REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
18/ES/0116
Date of REC Opinion
23 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion