In this episode we are joined by EFTA President, Umberta Telfener, as she shares with us her legacy and connection to the development of the systemic field. She talks about her relationships with some of the pioneers in Systemic Family Therapy across the globe.

We hear her passionate views on combining systemic interventions and psychotherapy as we explore the integral relationship between them. Umberta also discusses first and second order change, systemic complexity, collusion and utilising systemic thinking to create meaningful interventions for people.

Bio:

Umberta Telfener, health & clinical psychologist, teacher of the Milan systemic family therapy school (Boscolo & Cecchin), actual President of EFTA, former adjunct Professor at the post graduate School of Health Psychology of the University of Roma La Sapienza, she supervises Institutions and Community work and is in private practice since 1980.

She is one of the senior systemic professionals and thinkers in Italy. In the mid ’70 she met all the pioneers and since then she teaches systemic thinking in different settings. She had among her direct teachers Heinz von Foerster, Lynn Hoffman, Salvator Minuchin, Jay Haley, Carl Whitaker, Carlos Slusky, Bralio Montalvo, Harry Aponte, Luigi Boscolo e Gianfranco Cecchin.

She teaches at the Health Psychology Post Graduate training of the University of Roma La Sapienza, both Epistemology and systemic thinking and Systemic practice and interventions. She works as a supervisor in different settings both public and private and has written many books and articles in the Italian language with the most well known publishing companies, among which Ammalarsi di Psicoterapia 1995 (Getting sick from psychotherapy), Sistemica un dizionario sulla complessità 2003 (Systemics, a dictionary on complexity, with the direct supervision of Heinz von Foerster, Bollati Boringhieri). She has published with Bollati Boringhieri La psicoterapia come pratica riflessiva (Psychotherapy as a reflexive practice) and with Cortina editore Learning Context, Practices to enter in new settings. She has been past president of the Italian Society for Systemic Therapy and Research (SIRTS) and has been an extern examiner at the Kensington Consultation Centre of London.