Marriage & Family Therapy News
Falk 2018 Convocation Speech
by Fanta Drame, 18′
Good Afternoon Everyone,
It is such an honor to be here today.
During my first encounter with public health, sitting in Dr. Byrne’s class, I learned about the social determinants of health, the different aspects of one’s life and surroundings that determine his or her health status. Or more generally speaking, the factors that determine one’s outcomes.
Social determinants tell us that first generation students will struggle. Low income families will be set for failure and lack access to opportunities. Minorities will be placed at the bottom of the social ladder and be at a constant disadvantage. Tall people will play basketball and all SU students’ favorite color will be orange.
However, if I have allowed my background to determine my outcomes, I wouldn’t have travelled to India, South Africa and Brazil all in one semester to conduct preliminary global research on the healthcare systems, I wouldn’t have done a risk communication project with the CDC on Ebola messaging, I wouldn’t have been able to maintain one of the highest GPA’s in the Public Health Department and be a University Scholar and I wouldn’t be able to say that my favorite color is actually lavender.
Syracuse University, but more specifically the Falk department and faculty, my roommate and great friend Aryonna, Dr. Lane and Professor Thompson and my close colleagues Shamayan and Bre taught me how to turn my disadvantages into my biggest assets. Falk allowed me to use my background in my public health career to relate to the communities I hope to serve, and use that to my advantage to create and implement innovative solutions to decrease the health disparities.
I would like to say thank you for pushing me beyond my limits and giving me the necessary tools to think critically and actively engage, and thank you for answering my countless emails and most importantly thank you for allowing me to recognize that our social determinants don’t determine our futures, they make us more determined.
Determined to be great;
Determined to be agents of change;
and Determined to be limitless.
Thank you and congratulations to us all!
~ Fanta Drame, Falk College Department of Public Health, Food Studies & Nutrition 2018 graduate
Trans Support Day benefits transgender community
More than 50 attended Trans Support Day on April 12, 2018, including individuals, couples, parents, and kids. Hosted by the Syracuse University Trans Team, the event included clothing and makeup giveaways, makeup tutorials, legal advice for ID changes. The clothing and makeup giveaways were made possible by generous donations to the Trans Team’s clothing and makeup drive.
The event also included a visit from a speech-language pathologist, Josie Zanfordino, a lecturer and clinical supervisor in the Speech Pathology Department at Ithaca College and the co-founder of the Transgender Voice and Communication Clinic.
The Syracuse University Trans Team is part of the Syracuse University Couple and Family Therapy Center, housed within the Falk College Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, located in Peck Hall, just north of main campus on E. Genesee Street. Students on the Trans Team receive specialized training to provide gender-affirmative therapy for transgender people and their families and assist in the readiness process for medical gender transition.
More information is available online for those who wish to learn more about the Couple and Family Therapy Center and the Trans Team.
SU Trans Team to host Trans Support Day April 12
The Syracuse University Trans Team will host Trans Support Day to benefit the Syracuse-area transgender community on April 12, 2018 from 2 to 7:30 p.m. in Peck Hall, located at 601 E. Genesee Street just north of main campus.
The Trans Team is part of the Syracuse University Couple and Family Therapy Center, housed within the Falk College Department of Marriage and Family Therapy. Students on the Trans Team receive specialized training to provide gender-affirmative therapy for transgender people and their families and assist in the readiness process for medical gender transition.
The April 12 event will incorporate a clothing drive and makeup giveaways from 2 – 6:30 p.m., legal advice for ID changes and makeup instruction tutorials from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., and a visit from voice expert Josie Zanfordino from 5 – 6 p.m. The event will conclude with networking and refreshments from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The Trans Team will be collecting clothing and makeup donations for the drive from March 26 – April 5 at two drop off sites: Room 300 MacNaughton Hall in the Falk Complex, and Floor 3 of Peck Hall. To support the clothing drive, please donate lightly used clothing. such as shirts, sweaters, pants, leggings, shorts, rompers, and dresses; accessories like scarves, belts, shoes, bags, undergarments, hair accessories, jewelry, and sunglasses. Any size, age, and gender items are welcome. Larger sizes are in high demand. For the makeup drive, please donate new and unopened makeup items, such as eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, foundation, and blush.
For more information, please contact Anne Metzger-Wormuth at (315) 443-3023 or acmetzge@syr.edu.
Shipman’s article provides insight on the experiences of transgender therapists
Daran Shipman, MA, LMFT, Clinic Supervisor in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy at Falk College, recently published an article in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy entitled, “Clinical and Supervisory Considerations for Transgender Therapists: Implications for Working with Clients.” The article provides insight on the experiences of transgender therapists and seeks to encourage more conversation around the need for acknowledging and understanding these perspectives.
January 2018 courses to focus on therapy with military families, LGBTQ relationships
Several January 8-12, 2018 course offerings for graduate students in marriage and family therapy and other mental health professions, among other programs, will be offered. MFT 788-Systemic Family Therapy with Military Families will emphasize evidence-based trauma-informed clinical practice and provide systemic approaches to working with Veterans and military families. Professors Thom deLara, department chair, and Dyane Watson, will teach the course offered at Peck Hall. MFT 642-Couple and Family Therapy with LGBTQ Relationships, also offered at Peck Hall, will provide an overview of the specific issues LGBTQ couples and families face and ways in which these issues impact relationships and other social systems. The course will be taught by Professor Deborah Coolhart.
MFT 788: Systemic Family Therapy with Military Families
For graduate students in Marriage and Family Therapy and other mental health professions, and mental health practitioners
This course will emphasize evidence-based and trauma-informed clinical practice, will provide systemic approaches to working with veterans and military families, and will provide a framework for the course. Students will examine the primary and secondary impact of deployment, conflict and military lifestyle on the social and emotional functioning of the family and its individual members. They will come to understand military culture and language as a context for approaching clinical practice with military families. Students will learn trauma-informed approaches to practice, and evidence-based models for clinical practice. The family life cycle will be explored, as will issues of spirituality and community support systems. Students successfully completing this course will have an understanding of, and an ability to work with, veterans and military families.
MFT 642-Couple and Family Therapy with LGBTQ Relationships
For graduate students in MFT, Social Work, Child & Family Studies, Women’s & Gender Studies, Counseling and related programs
This course provides an overview of the specific issues LGBTQ couples and families face and ways in which these issues impact relationships and other social systems. The self-of-therapist will be examined in relation to sexual and gender identity development and the ways in which therapists’ identities may impact clinical work with LGBTQ couples and families. Students will gain LGBTQ-affirmative clinical skills and explore topics including couple dynamics, heterosexual/cisgender privilege, coming out, internalized oppression, intersection of other cultural identities, the formation of families and parenting, gender transition, polyamory, and intersexuality.
Marriage and family therapy alumna sees rising need for trauma-informed practice
For alumna Carrie Land-Steves G’09, marriage and family therapy was an obvious career choice. After completing her undergraduate studies in social science, she looked into graduate school and found Syracuse University to be an “immediate fit,” from the program and courses, to the professors and students.
As a Clinical Supervisor at Vera House, a Syracuse agency offering comprehensive domestic and sexual violence programs, Land-Steves provides support and guidance to the therapist and carries her own client cases, as well. “The most rewarding part for me is being able to witness people heal, grow, and become the versions of themselves that they want to be. I am honored every day to be able to bear witness to survivor’s pain, suffering, resilience, and healing.”
There are ways anyone and everyone can help end domestic and sexual violence, says Land-Steves. To start, “Have conversations. Honest conversations,” she says. “Domestic and sexual violence often happen in isolation, and if we can continue to have some of these challenging conversations, we can continue to change ourselves, culture, and norms.” Or, she says, consider donating your time or resources to an agency like Vera House.
“I see an increase in therapists becoming trauma-informed and this is very hopeful. I would argue that every client who goes into a therapeutic space has experienced a trauma at some point in their life,” says Land-Steves. “Being able to assess and identify what the client is needing to heal from that trauma is something that every clinician needs to be able to address, support, and treat.” Falk College offers a Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in Trauma-Informed Practice, which can equip mental health professionals with additional skills in trauma response and intervention.
“It is our role [as therapists] to create a space where all individuals, couples, and families can process their history or current events and gain more clarity and find healing,” she explains. “I cannot imagine myself doing anything else.”
Falk College welcomes prospective students at New York City
On Sunday, October 1, Falk College will welcome prospective students and family members in the greater New York City metropolitan area to an informational program at 12:00 noon at Syracuse University’s Lubin House, 11 E. 61st Street. A parking garage is available adjacent to the Lubin House building. In addition to the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Falk Admissions Office staff, the program will provide an overview of the college’s academic programs for undergraduates in Food Studies, Human Development and Family Science, Nutrition Dietetics, Nutrition Science, Pre-Health, Public Health, Social Work, Sport Analytics, and Sport Management.
Undergraduate Fall Orange Preview Days are scheduled for Monday, October 9 and Friday, November 10. Online registration for all programs is accessible at on Syracuse University’s website.
Counseling, therapy services available at Couple and Family Therapy Center
The Couple and Family Therapy Center, conveniently located on the Centro bus line in the heart of downtown Syracuse, offers confidential services with therapists trained to work with adults, children and families. Our therapists are graduate students in the nationally accredited Marriage and Family Therapy program at Syracuse University. They work with faculty supervisors who are experts in the marriage and family therapy field. All supervisors are licensed clinicians and approved supervisors with The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Marriage and family therapists are effective in treating many issues, such as:
- Resolving marital and couple difficulties
- Easing relationship or communication struggles
- Coping with separation and divorce
- Managing stress and parent/child difficulties
- Moving beyond family violence or substance abuse
- Dealing with emotional distress, anxiety or depression
- Coping with grief and loss
- Assessing for gender transition treatments
- Offering LGBTQ affirmative therapy
Donations sought for annual transgender clothing drive
Falk College’s Department of Marriage and Family Therapy is coordinating clothing donations to benefit the Syracuse-area transgender community as well as the Utica QCenter. As part of this annual project, gently worn clothes for any season, occasion, age and gender are being accepted now through July 21. From shirts, pants, shorts, dresses and skirts to belts, swimwear, purses, shoes, hair accessories and jewelry, donations are greatly appreciated.
Student organizers working with the transgender population recognize how expensive the transition process is. Many insurance plans don’t cover the costly expense of hormones and there are fees associated with blood work, binders, doctor visits, name changes and other legal documentation. At times, money for a new wardrobe is not possible. For clients with families, or teens who may not have parental support or any financial abilities, shopping for clothing is not only costly, but can be a fearful experience during the transitioning process.
MFT programs prepare clinicians, scholars, researchers at Peck Hall
Falk College’s Department of Marriage and Family Therapy seeks to promote change and healing in people’s lives, addressing mental health issues through research, teaching, and providing therapy in the community. Offering the first accredited MFT master degree in the United States, Falk College’s program also includes the only MFT-MSW dual degree program in the country. Read more about the life-changing work done at Peck Hall, a five-story, 30,000-square-foot facility that houses classrooms, a children’s clinic and a Couple and Family Therapy Center that serves clients referred from mental health and human service agencies and school districts throughout the area.
The full article was printed in the Syracuse University Magazine, Spring 2017 edition.
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