Eliciting Change in Structural Family Therapy [Online]

 Earn 1.5 CE Contact Hours

Structural Family Therapy (SFT) is not only a model for understanding family systems but also a powerful framework for facilitating transformative change. In this focused 90-minute workshop, participants will explore the logic and application of structural interventions, from initial assessment to the deliberate enactment of change within family hierarchies and relational patterns.

This session presents a clear model for identifying goals of structural change and selecting interventions that support those goals, including boundary setting, realignment of subsystems, and strategic use of therapist positioning. Theoretical principles will be brought to life through a case discussion of a family working to support their 15-year-old son, who has been diagnosed with depression and is currently participating in a day treatment program.

Participants will gain practical strategies for initiating change in complex family systems and deepening their clinical effectiveness using the structural lens.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the logical framework of change within Structural Family Therapy
• Learn to articulate clear structural goals and match them to effective interventions
• Explore clinical techniques such as boundary making, hierarchy restructuring, and in-session enactments
• Apply theory to practice through a case study involving adolescent mental health and family dynamics

Who Should Attend:

Family therapists, social workers, and mental health professionals seeking to refine their intervention skills through a structural lens.

Meet Jorge Colapinto:

Jorge Colapinto, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over four decades of experience as a clinician, teacher, and consultant in Structural Family Therapy. Originally from Argentina, he earned his psychology degree from the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires and moved to the U.S. in 1976, where he collaborated with Dr. Salvador Minuchin for nearly two decades.

Jorge is a longtime faculty member at the Ackerman Institute for the Family, where he directed the Foster Care Project and trained generations of family therapists. He has written extensively on Structural Family Therapy, family systems in social services, and clinical training. He is co-author of Working with Families of the Poor, now in its second edition and translated into multiple languages. Jorge is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and a member of both AAMFT and AFTA.

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