Voices within family therapy : the life story of a praticum team

Abstract

A yearlong ethnography that documented the life story of a practicum team is reported in this paper. The life story included how the team cohered, how inclusion of supervisors-in-training affected the team process, and what team members concluded about their experiences. An audit trail of the ethnography included interviews of the therapists, supervisor, and supervisors-in-training, both individually and in a group. In addition, all informants audiotaped field memos about their experiences throughout the year. A domain analysis of the transcripts yielded four domains: 1) Steps in team building, 2) When the team is least effective, 3) Ways conflict developed on the team, and 4) Ways conflict can be resolved. The role of ethnography in articulating and in resolving tensions around diversity is discussed, particularly surrounding the entrance in the team of supervisors-in-training during the second semester. The paper concludes with a discussion of the broader implications of how ethnography may give voice to conflicts and tensions within family therapy.