MFTK 555 MFT for Military Families
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Texas A&M University – Central Texas
MFTK 555.110 Treating Military Families
Fall 2015 August 27 - December 10
Instructor: James KELLY Barnett, Ph.D., LMFT, LPC
Office: adjunct, no office at TAMUCT
Phone: mobile (512) 948-9898
Email: JKBarnett@tamuct.edu
Office Hours: email or call for appointment
Method of Instruction and Course Access:
This course may use TAMUCT’s Blackboard system (http://TAMUCT.blackboard.edu).
You will use your University ID (UID) and the 6-digit University PIN to logon to this
system.
UNILERT:
UNILERT is an emergency notification service that gives TAMUCT the ability to
communicate health and safety emergency information quickly via email and text
message. By enrolling in UNILERT, university officials can quickly pass on safetyrelated information, regardless of your location. Please enroll today at
www.ct.tamus.edu/unilert.
COURSE INFORMATION
Course Overview and Description - This course will explore the unique characteristics
of military families and will provide an overview of assessment and treatment options for
common clinical concerns presented by military families.
Course Learning Outcomes – this course targets three of the MFT program’s Student
Learning Outcomes:
(SLO-3) - Assess how contextual issues affect individual lives and relational
dynamics.
(SLO-4) - Formulate treatment plans based on individual issues, relational
dynamics, and contextual issues.
(SLO-6) - Develop collaborative relationships with other mental health
professionals and agencies within the local community.
MFTK 555 MFT for Military Families
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It targets these SLO’s through the following Course Learning Outcomes:
1.
Identify contextual dynamics of military family life. (SLO-3)
2.
Explain and understand the prevalence and impact of addictions
on military families. (SLO-4)
3.
Navigate additional resources and services available to military
families (SLO-6)
Offer career and guidance for military service members and their
families when transitioning out of military life. (SLO-4)
4.
5.
Identify effective strategies for helping families that have
experienced difficulty associated with deployment. (SLO-4)
6.
Teach basic financial management strategies to military families.
(SLO-4)
Required Reading - Textbook
Moore, Bret. A., Editor (2012) Handbook of Counseling Military Couples. Routledge
Publishing Company.
Required Reading – Research Articles
Pew Research Article: War and Sacrifice in the Post-9/11 Era -- http://pewrsr.ch/pNZimd
The Military Genogram: A Solution-Focused Approach for Resiliency Building in Service
Members and Their Families. http://tfj.sagepub.com/content/18/4/395
The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/1066480710378479
The Family Journal 2010 18: 395 originally published online 16 August 2010
Eugenia L. Weiss, Jose E. Coll, Jennifer Gerbauer, Kate Smiley and Ed Carillo
Recommended Reading
Hall, Lynn K. (2008). Counseling Military Families: What Mental Health Professionals
Need to Know. Routledge.
Blaisure, Karen R., Tara Saathoff-Wells, Angela Pereira, Shelley MacDermid
Wadsworth, and Amy Laura Dombro. (2012). Serving Military Families in the 21st
Century. Routledge.
Snyder, Douglas K. and Candice M. Monson Editors, (2012). Couple-Based
Interventions For Military and Veteran Families. Guilford.
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Academic honesty statement:
Texas A&M University - Central Texas expects all students to maintain high standards of
honor in personal and scholarly conduct. Any deviation from this expectation may result
in a minimum of a failing grade for the assignment and potentially a failing grade for the
course. All academic dishonesty concerns will be reported to the university's Office of
Student Conduct. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an
examination or other academic work, plagiarism and improper citation of sources, using
another student's work, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials. When in doubt on
collaboration, citation, or any issue, please contact me before taking a course of action.
More information can be found at
http://www.tamuct.edu/departments/studentconduct/academicintegrity.php
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
CLASS PARTICIPATION: Participation is expected of a quality and quantity to
reflect knowledge of the assigned readings. Remember—present, prompt, and prepared!
Class absence costs 25 points of the 100 possible points for attendance. Four absences
results in loss of a letter grade.
PAPER, COURSE JUSTIFICATION. After reading the Pew Research article
provided, write an opinion paper justifying this course. Describe the rationale or necessity
of a course on the topic of military families given the small percentage of Americans who
serve in the military. This paper should require approximately 3 pages.
GENOGRAM PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION (My experience of Military
Culture) After reading the article, The Military Genogram: A Solution-Focused
Approach for Resiliency Building in Service Members and Their Families. Prepare a
genogram of your family of origin (4 generations) including your generation, any
children, your parents, and grandparents information. Focus on your family’s experience
of military.
WRITE a personal assessment of your life as impacted by military culture.
Include a section how this experience or lack of experience might inform and/or
influence your work/career as a Marriage and Family Therapist. The length of this
narrative will vary depending on your family story. Include how a lack of experience
could effect your work.
PAPER, PHILOSOPHY OF WAR. The person or self of the therapist is critical to the
success of Marriage and Family Therapy. We are preparing ourselves to assist families
who are involved in the defending our nation and the business of war. Our personal
values, beliefs, and opinions will inform and influence our work. Write a paper
describing your personal values, beliefs, and opinions about war and your comprehension
of how these are helpful and/or unhelpful to your work with military families.
Approximately six pages should be enough to adequately describe this aspect of your life.
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Model Presentations: In triads of students—Prepare and Present a model of MFT for
military clients including a case review.
CBT Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
SFT Solution-Focused Therapy
EFT Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
Gottman Couples Therapy
EMDR Eye-Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
Snyder Infidelity Treatment
Grief Therapy
Play Therapy
LITERATURE REVIEW Choose a topic related to the course. Conduct a literature
review of books and peer reviewed articles in professional journals. Select seven (7)
resources (books or articles). Write a one-page summary of each. This will support your
research paper due later in the semester.
Additional topics: ethics, genograms, children, deployments, downsizing the
force, medical retirement, Active vs. Reserve military service, moral injury, military town
life, compare the current military culture in America with that of the Vietnam era, others
may be approved by Dr. Barnett.
PAPER, RESEARCH: Write a paper approximately 15 pages in length on the topic you
selected for the literature review. Use the current APA standard.
OTHER TASKS AS ASSIGNED
Grading Criteria Rubric and Conversion
Graded Assignments
Course Justification Paper
Genogram
Philosophy of War Paper
Model Presentation
Literature Review
Research Paper
Class Participation
TOTAL
Grading Scale:
Grade
# Due
9/3 via email
as assigned
10/15
as assigned
10/22
12/3
Points
100
150
100
150
100
300
100
1000
University Definition
Percentage
A
Excellent
900-1000
B
Good
800-899
C
Fair
700-799
D
Passing
600-699
F
Failing
599 or below
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COURSE OUTLINE AND CALENDAR (draft)
Week
TOPIC
Instructional Activities
Assignments Due
AUG 27
Introduction to
Course
SEPT 3
NO MEETING
Research day
AAMFT in Austin
Read Genogram Article
Pew Article, justification
paper due via email to
Dr. B
SEPT 10
Present genograms
Read Chapter 1 and 2
SEPT 17
Begin Presentations of Models and
continue genograms
Read Chapter 3
SEPT 24
TBA
Genogram narrative due
via email to Dr. B
TBA
Philosophy of War
paper due via email
OCT 1
OCT 8
OCT 15
OCT 22
Literature Review Due
OCT 29
NOV 5
NOV 12
Research paper due
NOV 19
TBA
NOV 26
NO MEETING
THANKSGIVING
DEC 3
DEC 10
FINAL meeting
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COURSE AND UNIVERSITY PROCEDURES AND POLICIES
Drop Policy. If you discover that you need to drop this class, you must go to the
Records Office and ask for the necessary paperwork. Professors cannot drop
students; this is always the responsibility of the student. The record’s office will
provide a deadline for which the form must be returned, completed and signed.
Once you return the signed form to the records office and wait 24 hours, you must
go into Warrior Web and confirm that you are no longer enrolled. Should you still be
enrolled, FOLLOW-UP with the records office immediately? You are to attend class
until the procedure is complete to avoid penalty for absence. Should you miss the
deadline or fail to follow the procedure, you will receive an F in the course.
Academic Integrity. Texas A&M University -Central Texas values the integrity of
the academic enterprise and strives for the highest standards of academic conduct.
A&M-Central Texas expects its students, faculty, and staff to support the adherence
to high standards of personal and scholarly conduct to preserve the honor and
integrity of the creative community. Academic integrity is defined as a commitment
to honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Any deviation by students
from this expectation may result in a failing grade for the assignment and
potentially a failing grade for the course. Academic misconduct is any act that
improperly affects a true and honest evaluation of a student’s academic
performance and includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other
academic work, plagiarism and improper citation of sources, using another
student’s work, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials. All academic
misconduct concerns will be reported to the university’s Office of Student Conduct.
Ignorance of the university’s standards and expectations is never an excuse to act
with a lack of integrity. When in doubt on collaboration, citation, or any issue, please
contact your instructor before taking a course of action.
Disability Support and Access Services. At Texas A&M University – Central Texas,
we value an inclusive learning environment where every student has an equal
chance to succeed and has the right to an education that is barrier-free. The Office of
Disability Support and Access is responsible for ensuring that students with a
disability enjoy equal access to the University's programs, services and activities.
Some aspects of this course or the way the course is taught may present barriers to
learning due to a disability. If you feel this is the case, please contact Disability
Support and Access at (254) 501-5831 in Warrior Hall, Ste. 212. For more
information, please visit their website at www.tamuct/disabilitysupport. Any
information you provide is private and confidential and will be treated as such.
Tutoring. Tutoring is available to all TAMUCT students, both on-campus and online.
Subjects tutored include Accounting, Finance, Statistics, Mathematics, and Writing
(APA). Tutors are available at the Tutoring Center in Warrior Hall, Suite 111. Visit
www.tamuct.edu/AcademicSupport and click "Tutoring Support" for tutor
schedules and contact information. If you have questions, need to schedule a
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tutoring session, or if you are interested in becoming a tutor, contact Academic
Support Programs at 254-501-5836 or by emailing c.garza@tamuct.edu
Chat live with a tutor 24/7 for almost any subject on your computer! Tutor.com is
an online tutoring platform that enables TAMUCT students to log-in and receive
FREE online tutoring and writing support. This tool provides tutoring in
Mathematics, Writing, Career Writing, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Spanish,
Calculus, and Statistics. To access Tutor.com, click on
http://www.tamuct.edu/departments/academicsupport/tutoring.php.
University Library. The University Library provides many services in support of
research across campus and at a distance. We offer over 200 electronic databases
containing approximately 250,000 eBooks and 82,000 journals, in addition to the
72,000 items in our print collection, which can be mailed to students who live more
than 50 miles from campus. Research guides for each subject taught at TAMUCT are
available through our website to help students navigate these resources. Oncampus, the library offers technology including cameras, laptops, microphones,
webcams, and digital sound recorders.
Research assistance from a librarian is also available twenty-four hours a day
through our online chat service, and at the reference desk when the library is open.
Research sessions can be scheduled for more comprehensive assistance, and may
take place on Skype or in-person at the library. Assistance may cover many topics,
including how to find articles in peer-reviewed journals, how to cite resources, and
how to piece together research for written assignments.
Our 27,000-square-foot facility on the TAMUCT main campus includes student
lounges, private study rooms, group work spaces, computer labs, family areas
suitable for all ages, and many other features. Services such as interlibrary loan,
TexShare, binding, and laminating are available. The library frequently offers
workshops, tours, readings, and other events. For more information, please visit our
homepage: http://www.tamuct.edu/departments/library/index.php
TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPORT.
Technology Requirements. Include a statement on the technology requirements for
the successful completion of the course and when applicable, information on how to
access these resources (for example, how to obtain a certain software through
University site license).
This course will use the TAMUCT Blackboard Learn learning management system.
Logon to https://tamuct.blackboard.com to access the course.
Username: Your MyCT username
(xx123 or everything before the "@" in your MyCT e-mail address)
Initial password: Your MyCT password
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Check browser and computer compatibility by using the “Test Your Browser”
button, found in the “Check Your Browser” module on your Blackboard dashboard,
once you have logged in.
Technology Support. For technology issues, students should contact Help Desk
Central.
24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
Email: helpdesk@tamu.edu
Phone: (254) 519-5466
Web Chat: http://hdc.tamu.edu
When calling for support please let your support technician know you are a TAMUCT
student.
For issues related to course content and requirements, contact your instructor.
Technology issues are not an excuse for missing a course requirement – make sure
your computer is configured correctly and address issues well in advance of deadlines.