AAMFT Blog
~ LEGACIES OF THE MFT PIONEERS ~
AAMFT is rich with both experience and knowledge. We invite your participation with our blogs. The first blog, A Tribute, includes members sharing interesting, fun, or touching stories about one of the discussed Influential Family Therapists. Transgenerational Impact (second blog) is for members, similar to Dr. Kuehl, to share how our great profession has shaped our professional and personal lives.
*AAMFT reserves the right to remove any questionable, objectionable, distasteful or otherwise offensive postings to the web log areas.
A Tribute by Bruce Kuehl, Ph.D.
- By: AAMFT
- On: 09/09/2008 10:37:20
- In: Legacy of the MFT Pioneers
- Comments: 3
Speaking of wonderful, Carl Whitaker was a member of our class—at least for a couple of days. It was around 1985 and he was one of numerous influential figures Keeney finessed into visiting west Texas. Whitaker eschewed theory and was irreverent. I remember his down-to-earth relaxed style and good sense of humor. For example, when a student asked him to pinpoint the most important thing that contributed to his development as an MFT, Carl replied matter-of-factly, “I never got any training.” He followed this with, “You know, the nice part about not having any training is that I didn’t know what not to do.” He mentioned that despite his international acclaim, he never got past feeling like he was just a kid from the farm. Given that I am a first-generation college student from a poor family, I easily related to his message. Whitaker remains one of my heroes.
Transgenerational Impact
- By: AAMFT
- On: 09/09/2008 10:35:59
- In: Legacy of the MFT Pioneers
- Comments: 1
Dr. Kuehl discusses connections and the transgenerational impact of our influential pioneers on his career. How has our profession contributed to your growth and development?
From Dr. Kuehl’s reflections….I often wonder where I would be in life, both personally and professionally, had I missed the good fortune to stumble into this profession. Following Bowen’s example, I began my own family of origin work in 1982, and with the additional guidance of Monica McGoldrick’s contributions, have revisited it with every new phase of life. As a result, I am confident that my family relationships have improved and that I am a relatively well differentiated partner, parent, child, sibling, therapist and co-worker (well, most of the time).
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