MFTK 555 MFT for Military Families Page 1 of 8
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:
Office Hours: email or call for appointment
Method of Instruction and Course Access:
This course may use TAMUCT’s Blackboard system ( You will use your University ID (UID) and the 6-digit University PIN to logon to this system.
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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.
It targets these SLO’s through the following Course Learning Outcomes:
- Identify contextual dynamics of military family life. (SLO-3)
- Explain and understand the prevalence and impact of addictions on military families. (SLO-4)
- 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)
- Identify effective strategies for helping families that have experienced difficulty associated with deployment. (SLO-4)
- 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 --
The Military Genogram: A Solution-Focused Approach for Resiliency Building in Service Members and Their Families.
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.
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
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.
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 # Due Points
Course Justification Paper9/3 via email100
Genogram as assigned 150
Philosophy of War Paper10/15100
Model Presentationas assigned150
Literature Review10/22100
Research Paper12/3300
Class Participation100
TOTAL 1000
Grading Scale:
Grade / University Definition / PercentageA / Excellent / 900-1000
B / Good / 800-899
C / Fair / 700-799
D / Passing / 600-699
F / Failing / 599 or below
COURSE OUTLINE AND CALENDAR (draft)
Week / TOPIC / Instructional Activities / Assignments DueAUG 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
OCT 1
OCT 8
OCT 15 / TBA / Philosophy of War paper due via email
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
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 Any information you provide is private and confidential and will be treated as such.
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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. On-campus, 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.
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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 to access the course.
Username: Your MyCT username
(xx123 or everything before the "@" in your MyCT e-mail address)
Initial password: Your MyCT password
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:
Phone: (254) 519-5466
Web Chat:
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.