Family therapy training in child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship programs

This study describes the current state of family therapy training in a sample of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship programs.

Child and adolescent psychiatry fellows (N=66) from seven training programs completed a questionnaire assessing demographics, family therapy training experiences, common models of treatment and supervision, attitudes about family therapy, and perspectives on clinical training and clinical skill.

Fellows ascribed a high degree of importance to family therapy skills, yet most had not seen more than one outpatient family with family therapy supervision during their training. They identified structural family therapy and family psychoeducation as the primary family treatment orientations in their programs.

Although child psychiatry fellows believed that strong family therapy skills would benefit their patients, most had limited supervised experiences with families. Child and adolescent psychiatry training programs appear to offer exposure to family therapy without sufficient opportunities to develop proficiency. The author discusses educational implications for child and adolescent psychiatry.