Looking ahead . . . save the date: NASW-MN and St. Olaf College Department of Social Work and Family Studies collaborate on conference planning for June 16, 2009.

Family Sculpture: An international Tool for Brief Assessment and Intervention

This special daylong continuing education event is being held at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in conjunction with an international gathering of practitioners, educators, and researchers who use the Kvebaek Family Sculpture Tool (called KFST or KST) in Australia, Europe and North America.

This conference will demonstrate the Kvebaek Sculpture Tool (KST), a technique that rapidly engages clients in assessment and treatment. 
 
Kvebaek family sculpture provides a simple and appealing way to quickly involve clients in sharing their stories and showing significant relationships.

KST uses semi-abstract figures to show family and other significant persons. It supports a strengths perspective, is culturally sensitive, multi-sensory, and appealing to all ages. The KST is especially useful with resistant/oppositional clients and those with varying degrees of verbal skill.

Significant assessment data emerges when the therapist notes who the clients include, how many are in their network, and whether they place these figures close or far away. KST assesses cohesion and distance in relationships in order to improve communication and conflict resolution.

The keynote address, "Using KST to open up the space between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in child and family assessments" will be given by Anne Hollingworth, Australian psychologist. Dr Hollingworth is in private practice in Armidale, New South Wales. Child protection agencies and courts call on her to assess parenting capacity and children's family attachments for the purpose of making placement decisions about at-risk children.

Demonstration and small group opportunities to practice this technique and breakout sessions with presenters are incorporated in this daylong learning opportunity.  Julie Thorsheim, LICSW, who trained with the inventor of the KST will show how to get started with KST in individual and family assessment.

Brief biographical notes of presenters and panelists:

Anne Hollingworth’s academic background includes social work, linguistics studies, family therapy (studied with Michael White), and education. She has expertise in: child, adolescent, adult, couple & family therapy; alternative dispute resolution; psychometric assessments; forensic and medico-legal reports; communication skills training; staff development. She is a Registered Family Dispute Resolver and Expert Witness in court proceedings. Her work is published in professional journals.

Julie Thorsheim, MSW, University of Illinois, is a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work, and a Minnesota LICSW. Her career spans child welfare, school social work, community-based and in-patient mental health, college teaching, and consultation and training. She trained with the Norwegian inventor of the Kvebaek Sculpture tool. A long-standing member of NASW, she attended the first U.S.-China Social Work conference in Beijing in 2006 and was an invited presenter on the Kvebaek Tool for assessment and intervention in the Child & Family section.

Stein Hardeng, Norwegian social work educator (Diaconia College, Oslo), clinician and administrator (Kirkens Familievern agencies throughout Norway), is hoping to present at this conference as well. He and Julie Thorsheim were co-presenters on the Kvebaek sculpture at the NASW National Conference in Philadelphia in 1995.

Jean Giebenhain, PhD, a clinical psychologist and full professor in the undergraduate psychology department at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, began using the KST while conducting research with adoptive families. Her foci include multi-cultural adoptive families.

Thomas E. Thorsheim, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, is in Private Practice in Greenville, South Carolina. He has found the KST to be a highly effective tool in both individual and family therapy.

Put this workshop date on your calendar - we look forward to having you join us. 

Program brochures and online information will be available in March.

CEH 6.5 hours.