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The application of the systemic approach in working with people with learning disabilities, their families and their support systems has grown over the last decade in the UK. The way in which the family, support systems and wider contexts interact with each other may affect how the person with learning disabilities presents for help to services, and will also affect engagement, expectations and possible solutions to crises. If the relationship in focus is the person's behaviour in a family setting, family therapy may be useful to explore relational difficulties within the family. This article considers the issues that might benefit from using this model, explains how to include the adult with learning disabilities in the process, and summarises the evidence of its effectiveness.

This paper discusses the contribution of systemic family therapy and theory within the context of a statutory community alcohol service. Systemic couples and family therapy is integrated with conventional models of intervention for alcohol related problems. Potential problems and solutions in developing a multi‐modal approach is discussed, primarily establishing well defined pathways and communication between the various facilities within the same service.

This paper is a commentary inspired by Laura McKenzie-Smith’s review paper.

This commentary provides a personal perspective on the intersections of narrative practice and the support of people with a learning disability.

This commentary highlights some further possibilities of narrative ideas beyond therapy. This paper explores examples of record keeping and research as sites for story construction about lives and identities.

This is a personal perspective of a systemic psychotherapist and academic working with people with a learning disability.

This paper argues that the stories we tell ourselves and others about our work and the people we support are powerful in ways of which we may not always be aware.

In common with person-centred planning, narrative ideas highlight the power of the stories circulating about a person and their network and the implications they may have for their lives and identities.

This commentary explores narrative practices beyond the context of therapy, highlighting organisational, administrative and research practices as story-constructing activities that co-create identities of persons with a learning disability, their networks of support and health and social care professionals.

This paper seeks to examine the relevance of Bateson's ethnographic work to systemic psychotherapy.

The paper addresses this by examining Bateson's work with the naven ritual practiced by the Iatmul people of New Guinea. Bateson published this work in an ethnography entitled Naven, which has largely been ignored by systemic psychotherapists.

It is argued that Bateson's early work has been neglected in the field of psychotherapy despite being highly relevant to the development of cross‐cultural approaches in this field. The paper summarises Bateson's arguments in the main body of the book and in the two epilogues which provide Bateson's own commentary on this work. Key concepts such as “context” “pattern” and “ethos” are discussed. The paper also addresses the issues of how psychotherapists and ethnographers have access to the meaning of their interlocutors and outlines some pointers given by Bateson upon which psychotherapists may build in their cross‐cultural work with clients. Bateson's thinking about emotional, sociological and behavioural patterns and the way he involved himself in interpreting these is briefly considered in relation to the work of the anthropologist/sociologist Pierre Bourdieu on the one hand, and the psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion, on the other.

The theoretical discussion aims to contribute to the development of a rigorous approach to cross‐cultural psychotherapy and to the integration of social science and psychotherapy.

The paper will be of value to systemic psychotherapists, psychotherapists generally, anthropologists, social scientists and clinicians interested in cross‐cultural clinical work and in ethnographic enquiry.

To consider how the approach and work of Heinz von Foerster, among others, can aid psychotherapists.

A family therapist, as every therapist, is caught in the dilemma that (s)he cannot separate what (s)he sees from who (s)he is. One possibility to understand what happens in a therapeutic system is by means of the model of resonance. The therapist observes himself or herself and regards these thoughts and emotions as part of the therapeutic system. (S)he takes part in the reciprocal double binds, i.e. the strategy how each member of a human system s(he) is part of is protecting the worldview of the others by acting in a way, which is reinforcing their worldviews. Thus, a homeostasis is maintained.

Proposes a new systemic approach closer to Ilya Prigogine's work on systems far from equilibrium where chance plays a role helping members of human systems to leave a world of predictability and to enter a universe of freedom and responsibility. Also uses the teachings of Heinz von Foerster about being part of the world and not separated observers. The viewpoint of constructed realities entails freedom and responsibility and is a highly ethical position.

Provides help in understanding how the teachings of Heinz von Foerster, among others, can aid psychotherapists.

The legacy of colonisation and apartheid in South Africa has resulted in a radical challenge to the public universities. The successful #FeesMustFall campaign that took place in 2015 accentuated several aspects of post-apartheid transformation that have not been adequately attended to. The public universities are now faced with meeting the needs of students and interested parties who would like to see transformation at various levels, in particular, the decolonisation of knowledge. This paper aims to present an approach to address the decolonisation of knowledge.

Shifting universities’ approach to teaching and learning is a challenging endeavour, especially as it entails an embrace of previously ignored worldviews. Taking a metaphoric approach, an analysis of this problem is presented in systemic terms from a family therapy approach adhering to second-order cybernetics. A solution to bridging the disconnect between the participants in the decolonisation of knowledge in a South African context is presented.

Early successes were attained on the back of a therapeutic approach to meeting the needs of students who took part in curriculum and policy changes. The findings suggest that for a transformation to take place, all the participants in the university should acknowledge that the problem (which may have different forms) is a shared one and that decolonisation requires the participants to learn about other participants in the system. Reflecting on historical narratives and its present status quo from the epistemology of the directly affected parties is suggested as an indispensable step that should occur prior to the implementation of any solutions. Without the reflection process, the other members of the system may not understand the context and reasoning for the decolonisation, resulting in friction and fear, in turn mitigating the decolonisation process.

Methods of empathetically engaging people who have been discriminated against is important in the goal of restoring equality and social justice. Family therapy is presented as a vehicle for communal dialogue in a therapeutic empathetic context. This approach has value in many settings other than in the education arena.

Legacies of apartheid are still in effect in the South African public university system. Decolonising knowledge is one topic that may address social justice which helps to diffuse social tension and subsequent protest action.

Family therapy as an approach to decolonisation of knowledge and as an approach to appeasing social tension in the educational context is unique.

The aim of this article is to summarise the available evidence from systematic reviews about the effectiveness of interventions to prevent or treat child physical abuse and neglect. A computerised search was undertaken of major electronic databases up to December 2005 using key search terms. Only systematic reviews were included in which the primary studies evaluated the effectiveness of targeted or indicated interventions for child physical abuse or neglect. A total of 31 systematic reviews were identified and 15 met all the inclusion criteria. They covered a range of interventions/services, including home visiting, parenting programmes, multi‐component interventions, intensive family preservation services, family‐focused casework and multi‐systemic family therapy. There was limited evidence of the effectiveness of services in improving objective measures of abuse and neglect, due in part to methodological issues involved in their measurement, but good evidence of modest benefits in improving a range of outcomes that are associated with physical abuse and neglect, including parental and family functioning and child development. The results also showed some interventions (eg. media‐based and perinatal coaching) to be ineffective with high‐risk families. The evidence provided by these reviews has clear implications for children's services in the UK and other western developed countries.

To determine the influence of cybernetics and systemic thinking on psychotherapy from a personal viewpoint.

Describes the author's own development.

Shows the major influence that cybernetics and systemic thinking had on psychotherapy. Beginning with the concept of simple feedback he spins the thread of circular understanding to the contributions of Heinz von Foerster and others, finally arriving at shamanistic and indigenous rites, becoming ever more a topic in the research of communication and healing.

Provides a personal viewpoint of the contribution of the work of Heinz von Foerster.

Narrative therapy is aligned with government priorities for learning disabilities as it promotes inclusion and seeks to empower. While research on narrative therapy in learning disability services is emerging, it has not been critically evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to identify, summarise and critique the extant literature that has explored narrative therapy for adults with learning disabilities, and consider the implications for research and clinical practice.

A literature search identified seven relevant case studies that described individual narrative therapy interventions for adults with learning disabilities. A qualitative review of these studies was carried out.

Overall, the reviewed studies offer tentative evidence for the short-term usefulness of narrative therapy for difficulties with anger and qualitative benefits for ritualistic behaviour, social anxiety and stealing behaviour.

A number of methodological issues are identified, particularly concerning the use of outcome measures and the generalisability of findings. The research is limited due to a reliance on case study evidence and outcome measures that lack validity and reliability. Both larger scale and more robust research, and high quality practice-based evidence, are required.

Learning disability services could consider providing narrative therapy for people with learning disabilities experiencing anger problems and other psychological difficulties. Clinical practice suggestions are identified, such as choosing relevant metaphors and including the individual’s wider system.

This paper provides an up-to-date, comprehensive review of the literature on narrative therapy for people with learning disabilities that will be of use to clinicians providing therapeutic support and to people commissioning such services.

While studies on service users’ participation and their perceptions on the quality of services exist, agreement between family members’ and practitioners’ assessments of the family’s situation has received less interest. The purpose of this paper is to investigate agreement and its effect on outcomes by comparing the viewpoints of three groups of informants (children, mothers and practitioners) in the context of statutory child protection in two study groups – one applying a systemic approach (SPM) and a service-as-usual control group (SAU).

A quasi-experimental repeated-measures study design was applied. Outcome data comprised 112 cases (SPM cases n = 56 and SAU cases n = 56) at three sites. Data was collected from all participants at baseline and six months later.

First, practitioners’ analyses of a child’s need for protection did not meet family members’ expressed need for help. Second, child–mother agreement on the need for service intervention at T1 predicted a decrease in practitioner-assessed abuse or neglect from T1 to T2. In this sample, no differences were found between the two groups.

This study highlights the importance of making explicit the viewpoints of children, parents and practitioners in casework and research to improve understanding of how their perspectives differ over the course of the process and how possible initial disagreements affect outcomes.