Archives

  • The New England Journal of Relational and Systemic Practice: Navigating Antiracism in Family Therapy
    Vol. 1 No. 3 (2021)

    Therapists see and hear things years before it becomes a part of the public dialogue. We see the effects of substance abuse, of ageism, of racism, of homophobia, of sexism, of privilege, of misogyny. We hear the accounts of doctors and nurses after their shift in a covid space. We understand the personal and family costs of a for-profit health insurance system, and a for-profit prison and justice system. In this issue of NEJRSP, we interview therapists about their life and work.

  • The Impact of the Pandemic on Children and Families
    Vol. 2 No. 2 (2022)

    Schools are increasingly becoming crisis centers. We have lost a million citizens to Covid, and rising. Children and adolescents are suffering with a two year loss of social development, those hundreds of daily in-person micro-encounters that define who we are. Pediatric emergency rooms are filling up with suicidal teens. Families are struggling with guilt over grandparents who died alone in a hospital bed. The right to have freedom over our own bodies is under attack. The Florida Board of Health is sending threatening letters to therapists warning them not to treat families with trans kids under 18. Teachers, nurses, and doctors are either leaving their professions, or taking extended leaves of absence. For every newly licensed psychotherapist, we lose three to attrition, burnout, low wages, and vicarious trauma.

    This issue provides voice to the professionals, parents, and teachers who are attempting to navigate our communities through these perilous waters.

  • Parenting, Essential Workers, and Continuing Mental Health Disparities
    Vol. 2 No. 4 (2022)

    This is a journal for those family, relational, and systemic therapists who are battling the effects of dysfunctional systems. In working with families and parents, we are attempting to counterbalance the effects of racism, homophobia and transphobia, ableism, sexism, misogyny, and ageism, one session at a time.

    In this edition of the journal, we focus on parenting. Parents are under stress from every direction, from the randomness of serious illness to themselves and their children, to increasing occupational and economic instability, from everyday racism, to a profound lack of support from a crumbling mental health system.

  • The New England Journal of Relational and Systemic Practice: Telehealth During the Pandemic
    Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021)

    Amidst a global pandemic that has taken loved ones from their families, taken us away from our commuting routines and patients, and has literally encapsulated us in our homes, the opportunity to utter the words “post-pandemic” feels like a momentary relief. This relief is then followed by questions and reflections about what life will look like returning to our new “normal”, how we will continue to challenge historical inequities in mental health care, how to address worries about the health risks of returning while there is still a pandemic, what to do about vicarious trauma and clinician burnout, and simultaneously confronting a concurrent racial pandemic.

    For psychotherapists, one of the primary shifts has been the practice of teletherapy. This journal explores the impact of teletherapy for professionals during the last year, and ideates about the pros and cons of using telehealth modules to continue working with couples, relationships, and families in the future.

  • The New England Journal for Relational and Systemic Practice: Navigating the Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Families
    Vol. 2 No. 1 (2022)

    COVID-19 has had a multi-systemic impact for many families. 

    There have also been disruptions in children’s environment for typical social emotional development. Closures of schools, youth’s centers, childcare centers, and many other settings have been a part of an effort to contain the virus. These environments are critical for social learning and emotional well-being in early adolescents. For some kids, these settings provide a structure to their days that they would otherwise not have. What's more, some of these youths live under chronic pre-existing strains, including structural racism and oppression, which have impacted families for several generations.

    In the same storm, but not in the same boat.

    What have your experiences been in working with young children during this time? Share your knowledge as we understand the multi-layered impact of COVID-19.

  • Creating a More Intentional Healthcare System
    Vol. 2 No. 3 (2022)

    What if we thought of commodity as a behavioral healthcare system that provides a compassionate and effective experience for the clients it serves, as well as one that is responsible for the commodities that facilitate positive holistic lives of clinicians and staff who provide the care?

    We can’t imagine that there would be much disagreement on the benefit of such a system, yet to accomplish such a goal requires an agreement that there are things that we can do that move us towards the goal of creating a smarter, more effective system.  What are the relational practices that might move a behavioral system in that direction? How do we identify and practice these qualities together?

  • Supporting the Trans Community in Family Therapy
    Vol. 3 No. 1 (2023)

    As therapists we are collectively concerned with these gender-denying bills. Specifically, we are concerned with the coordinated effort to deny transgender people access to established medical care, including mental health care.

    We are in a time of great ethical concern. We must each question our legal responsibilities and ethical duties and weigh them against this moment. We have discussed the past harms of psychotherapy as something to learn from, but what of this moment now? We cannot ethically withhold therapy without undercutting our professional ethics.  

    We at the New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy, the New England Journal for Relational and Systemic Practice, the South Shore Sexual Health Center and our allies actively stand against transgender hate-speech and misinformation that denies established standards of medical and mental health care. The articles in this issue discuss how our therapeutic community might respond.

  • New England Journal of Relational and Systemic Practice: January 2021
    Vol. 1 No. 1 (2021)

    Welcome to the inaugural issue of the New England Journal for Relational and Systemic Practice. 

    In each of our quarterly publications, we hope to present our own regional idea of what constitutes an effective therapeutic conversation.