Publications by category
Journal articles
Burbach F, Sherbersky H, whitlock R, rapsey E, Wright KA, Handley R (In Press). A unique regional Family Interventions training programme. Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice
Parker C, Smithson J, Limond J, Sherbersky H, Butler C (2021). Student and supervisor experiences of the Systemic Practice Scale (SPS): a discourse analysis.
Journal of Family Therapy,
43(4), 793-818.
Abstract:
Student and supervisor experiences of the Systemic Practice Scale (SPS): a discourse analysis
There has been recent emphasis on the assessment of competence in psychotherapy training courses to improve evidence-based practice and outcomes for clients. The Systemic Practice Scale (SPS) was developed as a structured way of evaluating systemic practice. There is, however, little research on the impact and experience of competence measures, particularly in the context of systemic practice. Five focus groups conducted with sixteen students and seven supervisors from systemic family practice (SFP) programmes explored their views of the SPS as an appropriate measure of systemic competence. Data was analysed using a discourse analysis with three dominant discourses identified: feedback as valuable but uncomfortable; measuring competence; and being systemic. The SPS was viewed as a valuable and useful measure of systemic competence when reflexivity and collaboration is maintained between the student and supervisor. Practitioner points: There is limited research exploring the use of competence measures in systemic practice the SPS was perceived as broadening perspectives of students’ practice and competence, reiterating the importance of feedback in a collaborative supervisory relationship Increasingly the SPS is being used across clinical psychotherapy training courses (including systemic IAPT course and Doctorate of Clinical Psychology) it has the potential to be used more widely with wider implications for the development of systemic training standards in systemic practice.
Abstract.
Sherbersky H, Ziminski J, Pote H (2021). The journey towards digital systemic competence: Thoughts on training, supervision and competence evaluation.
Journal of Family Therapy,
43(2), 351-371.
Abstract:
The journey towards digital systemic competence: Thoughts on training, supervision and competence evaluation
Our rituals for training, supervision and competence assessment which once relied on in-person interaction are rapidly becoming influenced by the digital creativity which surrounds them. Our training models have to be diverse and considerate of the multiple contextual shifts with which systemic practitioners are contending, and the current context is complex for student, supervisor and families alike. The aim of this paper is to consider how digital practices might reshape our systemic training, supervision and competence evaluation, considering issues for student and trainer as they move to digital delivery of training and supervision. This paper explores the historical context of online learning, enhancing online presence, and the ethical and practical implications of teaching and supervising digitally. It concludes with a discussion about how competence frameworks are influenced by the shift to digital practice and suggests digital skills required for systemic practice going forward. Practitioner Points: Consider how digital practices might reshape your systemic training delivery, with attention to enhancing online presence. Pay particular consideration in live supervision to trainee’s skills in attentiveness and attunement to family and couple interactions and emotional responses. Consider the differing processes of competence evaluation online and the need to attend to specific digital skills.
Abstract.
Sherbersky H, Gill M (2020). Creative Action Techniques in Supervision.
Journal of Family Psychotherapy,
31(3-4), 79-95.
Abstract:
Creative Action Techniques in Supervision
This paper provides a description of an integrative model of systemic and psychodramatic supervision practice; conceptualizing and illustrating the clinical use of time, space, and action within supervision. By introducing specific supervisory skills and key principles, the authors propose that in addition to language, action within supervision can support clinicians to become creative and responsive whilst remaining clear and rigorous in their practice. Rather than seeing the integration of disciplines as novel, the authors remind us that the schools of psychodrama and systemic therapy have shared roots and through the use of a supervisory exercise, demonstrate that these ideas have the potential to further cross-fertilize and enhance techniques for supervision and therapy practice.
Abstract.
Sherbersky H (2018). Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therap
Sherbersky H (2018). Home for Lost Dummies. Psychotherapy Section Review, No 62
Sherbersky H (2016). Family therapy and fundamentalism: One family therapist's exploration of ethics and collaboration with religious fundamentalist families.
Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry,
21(3), 381-396.
Abstract:
Family therapy and fundamentalism: One family therapist's exploration of ethics and collaboration with religious fundamentalist families.
What are the therapeutic limitations of systemic psychotherapy when working with families who hold religious fundamentalist beliefs? at a time of debate about religious fundamentalism, terrorism and radicalisation, where do family therapists position themselves when confronted by extreme beliefs in the therapy room? Research suggests that the increase in modernity within our society equates not just with an increase in secularisation, but rather an increase in pluralism. Contemporary models of family therapy pay explicit attention to issues of gender, culture, ethnicity, discrimination and societal contexts. The author, therefore, proposes that family therapists need to examine their position regarding religious fundamentalism in relation to the social constructionist relativist continuum and engage with uncomfortable questions about whether they believe that fundamentalism has essentially pathological roots. This article will explore whether the dualist position within some religious movements set against a more secular psychotherapeutic and psychiatric cultural milieu can invite a fundamentalised response from clinicians. The author draws on her own work with families who hold religious fundamentalist beliefs and enquires about ethics, transparency and collaboration within family therapy practice. This article invites complex ongoing challenging questions and debate.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Sherbersky H, Gill M (2013). Rediscovering Spontaneity. Context, 34-38.
Reibstein J, Sherbersky H (2012). Behavioural and empathic elements of systemic couple therapy: the Exeter Model and a case study of depression.
Journal of Family Therapy,
34(3), 271-283.
Abstract:
Behavioural and empathic elements of systemic couple therapy: the Exeter Model and a case study of depression
The UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence, under its remit to establish evidence-based treatments for clinical conditions, has recommended behaviourally based couples treatment for depression. A project, the Exeter Model, to establish a method for evaluating systemic work defined within the spirit of these guidelines is reported upon. A heuristic division of systemic work relevant to working with depression into behavioural strategies and empathic strategies is described. Finally, a clinical case outlining the Exeter Model is presented. © 2012 the Authors 2012 the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice.
Abstract.
Chapters
Sherbersky H, Gill M (2022). The ‘Four Chair Method'. In (Ed) Embodied Approaches to Supervision, 62-77.
Reibstein J, Sherbersky H (2021). Manualising the Exeter Model: Couple Therapy for Depression – a Behavioural-Systemic Approach. In (Ed) Handbook of Systemic Approaches to Psychotherapy Manuals, 123-139.
Sherbersky H (2019). Rivett, Mark. In (Ed) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy, 2520-2522.
Sherbersky H (2018). Rivett, Mark. In (Ed) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy, 1-3.
Sherbersky H (2015). ‘Integrating creative approaches within family therapy supervision’. In (Ed) Creative Supervision Across Modalities: Theory and Applications for Therapists, Counsellors and Other Helping Professionals, Edited by AnnaChesner and LiaZografou, London, UK, Jessica Kingsley, 2013, 224 Pp. £19.99 (paperback), ISBN 978‐1‐84905‐316‐7, Jessica Kingsley.
Publications by year
In Press
Burbach F, Sherbersky H, whitlock R, rapsey E, Wright KA, Handley R (In Press). A unique regional Family Interventions training programme. Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice
Waldron S, Johns C (In Press). ‘I Blame my Parents’. BBC 3.
Abstract:
‘I Blame my Parents’. BBC 3
For many people, going to college or moving out of home offers a chance to look at their relationship with their parents from a fresh perspective. 23-year old Dammy confronts her mum about her longstanding issues by having the type of brutally honest discussions that many of us so often avoid.
Dammy suffers from anxiety and hasn’t had a serious conversation with her mum about it. First off, it doesn’t help that mum still sees Dammy as her ‘baby’ and finds it hard to treat her like an adult – but it also seems that mum wants to gloss over any difficult issues. Keen not to upset her mum, Dammy has learnt to just stay silent. Through an emotional and frank therapy session, their relationship is put under the microscope. Over the course of a session with therapist Hannah Sherbersky, Dammy finally confronts mum about their lack of meaningful communication but perhaps she didn’t expect to learn so much about her mum’s upbringing in the process.
Abstract.
Author URL.
2022
Sherbersky H, Gill M (2022). The ‘Four Chair Method'. In (Ed) Embodied Approaches to Supervision, 62-77.
2021
Reibstein J, Sherbersky H (2021). Manualising the Exeter Model: Couple Therapy for Depression – a Behavioural-Systemic Approach. In (Ed) Handbook of Systemic Approaches to Psychotherapy Manuals, 123-139.
Parker C, Smithson J, Limond J, Sherbersky H, Butler C (2021). Student and supervisor experiences of the Systemic Practice Scale (SPS): a discourse analysis.
Journal of Family Therapy,
43(4), 793-818.
Abstract:
Student and supervisor experiences of the Systemic Practice Scale (SPS): a discourse analysis
There has been recent emphasis on the assessment of competence in psychotherapy training courses to improve evidence-based practice and outcomes for clients. The Systemic Practice Scale (SPS) was developed as a structured way of evaluating systemic practice. There is, however, little research on the impact and experience of competence measures, particularly in the context of systemic practice. Five focus groups conducted with sixteen students and seven supervisors from systemic family practice (SFP) programmes explored their views of the SPS as an appropriate measure of systemic competence. Data was analysed using a discourse analysis with three dominant discourses identified: feedback as valuable but uncomfortable; measuring competence; and being systemic. The SPS was viewed as a valuable and useful measure of systemic competence when reflexivity and collaboration is maintained between the student and supervisor. Practitioner points: There is limited research exploring the use of competence measures in systemic practice the SPS was perceived as broadening perspectives of students’ practice and competence, reiterating the importance of feedback in a collaborative supervisory relationship Increasingly the SPS is being used across clinical psychotherapy training courses (including systemic IAPT course and Doctorate of Clinical Psychology) it has the potential to be used more widely with wider implications for the development of systemic training standards in systemic practice.
Abstract.
Sherbersky H, Ziminski J, Pote H (2021). The journey towards digital systemic competence: Thoughts on training, supervision and competence evaluation.
Journal of Family Therapy,
43(2), 351-371.
Abstract:
The journey towards digital systemic competence: Thoughts on training, supervision and competence evaluation
Our rituals for training, supervision and competence assessment which once relied on in-person interaction are rapidly becoming influenced by the digital creativity which surrounds them. Our training models have to be diverse and considerate of the multiple contextual shifts with which systemic practitioners are contending, and the current context is complex for student, supervisor and families alike. The aim of this paper is to consider how digital practices might reshape our systemic training, supervision and competence evaluation, considering issues for student and trainer as they move to digital delivery of training and supervision. This paper explores the historical context of online learning, enhancing online presence, and the ethical and practical implications of teaching and supervising digitally. It concludes with a discussion about how competence frameworks are influenced by the shift to digital practice and suggests digital skills required for systemic practice going forward. Practitioner Points: Consider how digital practices might reshape your systemic training delivery, with attention to enhancing online presence. Pay particular consideration in live supervision to trainee’s skills in attentiveness and attunement to family and couple interactions and emotional responses. Consider the differing processes of competence evaluation online and the need to attend to specific digital skills.
Abstract.
2020
Sherbersky H, Gill M (2020). Creative Action Techniques in Supervision.
Journal of Family Psychotherapy,
31(3-4), 79-95.
Abstract:
Creative Action Techniques in Supervision
This paper provides a description of an integrative model of systemic and psychodramatic supervision practice; conceptualizing and illustrating the clinical use of time, space, and action within supervision. By introducing specific supervisory skills and key principles, the authors propose that in addition to language, action within supervision can support clinicians to become creative and responsive whilst remaining clear and rigorous in their practice. Rather than seeing the integration of disciplines as novel, the authors remind us that the schools of psychodrama and systemic therapy have shared roots and through the use of a supervisory exercise, demonstrate that these ideas have the potential to further cross-fertilize and enhance techniques for supervision and therapy practice.
Abstract.
Sherbersky H (2020). ‘Treating this place like home’: an exploration of the notions of home within an adolescent inpatient unit and subsequent implications for staff training.
Abstract:
‘Treating this place like home’: an exploration of the notions of home within an adolescent inpatient unit and subsequent implications for staff training.
Notions of home are deeply rooted in our sense of self. This qualitative research explores how young people, their families and the staff on a psychiatric adolescent inpatient unit construct meaning around the notion of home. Given that admissions can range between a few days to many months, understanding what young people, families and staff actually understand the unit to be; home, hospital or something else, will have significant clinical implications. The research elucidates how these groups talk about home generally, and the adolescent inpatient unit specifically as 'home' and a secure base. As a researcher and systemic family psychotherapist, I conducted eleven focus groups with staff, young people and families on a general adolescent inpatient unit. Two autoethnographic interviews were also conducted and the data were then all scrutinised using a discourse analysis, drawing on both systemic theory and attachment theory. This research suggests that discourses around role confusion, safety and the embodiment of home, attachment relationships and the contradictory positions of home or hospital were evident for all participants and have been hitherto undertheorised in this context. Inherent contradictions between focus groups were highlighted; for the young people the unit is where they live, for the staff, it is ‘work’ and for the parents, it is where their young people go away from home. The research concludes that theories such as the reciprocal nature of attachment relationships, iatrogenic injury, the therapeutic milieu and attachment ruptures between young people and parents have a profound impact on an inpatient admission and are often unspoken and underoperationalised. Clinical recommendations are made about managing the dilemmas associated with the unit becoming a home, and the subsequent training needs of inpatient staff.
Abstract.
2019
Sherbersky H (2019). Rivett, Mark. In (Ed) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy, 2520-2522.
2018
Sherbersky H (2018). Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therap
Sherbersky H (2018). Home for Lost Dummies. Psychotherapy Section Review, No 62
Sherbersky H (2018). Rivett, Mark. In (Ed) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy, 1-3.
2016
Sherbersky H (2016). Family therapy and fundamentalism: One family therapist's exploration of ethics and collaboration with religious fundamentalist families.
Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry,
21(3), 381-396.
Abstract:
Family therapy and fundamentalism: One family therapist's exploration of ethics and collaboration with religious fundamentalist families.
What are the therapeutic limitations of systemic psychotherapy when working with families who hold religious fundamentalist beliefs? at a time of debate about religious fundamentalism, terrorism and radicalisation, where do family therapists position themselves when confronted by extreme beliefs in the therapy room? Research suggests that the increase in modernity within our society equates not just with an increase in secularisation, but rather an increase in pluralism. Contemporary models of family therapy pay explicit attention to issues of gender, culture, ethnicity, discrimination and societal contexts. The author, therefore, proposes that family therapists need to examine their position regarding religious fundamentalism in relation to the social constructionist relativist continuum and engage with uncomfortable questions about whether they believe that fundamentalism has essentially pathological roots. This article will explore whether the dualist position within some religious movements set against a more secular psychotherapeutic and psychiatric cultural milieu can invite a fundamentalised response from clinicians. The author draws on her own work with families who hold religious fundamentalist beliefs and enquires about ethics, transparency and collaboration within family therapy practice. This article invites complex ongoing challenging questions and debate.
Abstract.
Author URL.
2015
Sherbersky H (2015). ‘Integrating creative approaches within family therapy supervision’. In (Ed) Creative Supervision Across Modalities: Theory and Applications for Therapists, Counsellors and Other Helping Professionals, Edited by AnnaChesner and LiaZografou, London, UK, Jessica Kingsley, 2013, 224 Pp. £19.99 (paperback), ISBN 978‐1‐84905‐316‐7, Jessica Kingsley.
2013
Sherbersky H, Gill M (2013). Rediscovering Spontaneity. Context, 34-38.
2012
Reibstein J, Sherbersky H (2012). Behavioural and empathic elements of systemic couple therapy: the Exeter Model and a case study of depression.
Journal of Family Therapy,
34(3), 271-283.
Abstract:
Behavioural and empathic elements of systemic couple therapy: the Exeter Model and a case study of depression
The UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence, under its remit to establish evidence-based treatments for clinical conditions, has recommended behaviourally based couples treatment for depression. A project, the Exeter Model, to establish a method for evaluating systemic work defined within the spirit of these guidelines is reported upon. A heuristic division of systemic work relevant to working with depression into behavioural strategies and empathic strategies is described. Finally, a clinical case outlining the Exeter Model is presented. © 2012 the Authors 2012 the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice.
Abstract.
