the context of the team, I did voice my ponderings in our pre- and post-session refl ections. I thought it important that we each share our thoughts with the group for the cohesion of the team – this is how I found my voice within the dynamic of the team. On a personal level, I remained curious


of the further thoughts of the families, and if the presence of a refl ecting team limited their authenticity. I wondered how best to disclose my pregnancy in the second term of sessions, and how to do so sensitively. Would this aff ect the work, particularly with those who may have struggled historically in the area of children and pregnancy? Subsequently, I decided on an honest and simplistic approach and, as my pregnancy was becoming visible, I decided to do so before sessions began in order to maintain transparency. In doing so, as a team we remained vigilant to the reactions of the families. Essentially, I believe our initial joining


moments give great opportunity to determine the extent to which we open ourselves to others, our space and acquired knowledge to explore change. Continually embracing ourselves, others, and circumstance to work collaboratively, I feel is a great way to achieve this.


Context 169, June 2020


Observer position – Eszter My first year at the Institute of Family


Therapy and my eagerness to watch family therapy in action, fulfilled my curiosity when I had the chance to join Juntos as an observer. This position has the ‘luxury’ of observing the whole therapeutic system (Minuchin, 1974) in the session with the reflecting team without being an active contributor. As an observer, I had to focus only on my thoughts and feelings evoked by the session, and I had the opportunity to contribute my reflections at the pre- and post-session discussions. In the early days of my placement we


had some extra time that we used for doing different exercises such as sharing our experiences of the different social “GGRRAAACCEEESSS” (Burnham, 2012). This helped a lot with joining with this team. Sharing our visible and invisible similarities and differences has deepened our connections in the group. All the team members, including our supervisor, shared their unique thoughts and experiences. We trainees were at different stages of our training, so differences in a form of competition could have occurred among us. However, these exercises eliminated these differences,


which helped to create transparency and honesty in the team. As I felt more and more safe, I could


use my genuine expressions, like symbols and metaphors (Minuchin, 2012) that were not fully informed systemically. As English is not my first language, I felt strongly that using these expressions first helps me a lot to express my views and later explains and describes better what I mean by them. This language-practice was valued by the rest of the team. Using my own language was even mentioned and appreciated in the feedback circle by my supervisor at the closing of the first year. At the same time, it has been essential to learn how to express myself in this professional setting and how to use systemic language in my reflections (Andersen, 1991). This can sometimes be challenging as a non-native trainee. However, my learning from hypothesising developed my ability to use systemic language, and also observing the reflections helped me to deepen my self- reflexivity. This first year with all the safe learning created a ‘secure base’ (Chimera, 2014) for me to explore the therapeutic world around me. In the second year, I have started to be part of the reflecting team and I had


9


Coming ‘together’ in a family therapy clinic as trainees


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