Raul Medina

Title

La terapia familiar de tercer orden: De la epistemología al cambio.

Abstract

En el ámbito psicológico nada es natural. La naturaleza es una invención del poder. Se crean parcelas de la realidad con el objetivo de situarlas fuera de discusión o crítica por considerarse naturales. Historias que han naturalizado el maltrato y la exclusión: la mujer, la esclavitud, el racismo, la homosexualidad, el maltrato del hombre sobre la mujer, el género y sus roles, las psicopatologías, los esquizofrénicos, los depresivos, etc. Todas ellas han sido refutadas.No se trata solo de una cuestión epistémica, metodológica o retórica, sino que ha tenido terribles efectos éticos y prácticos para esta población, ya que, con estas explicaciones «científicas», se ha excluido, negado, maltratado, perseguido, silenciado y matado.
Nada en el ser humano es natural. La naturaleza y la cultura se constituyen mutuamente en una dimensión ecológica (Bateson, 1991). Lo biológico, lo corpóreo, se organiza desde la biografía personal en la interacción social. Las identidades son dimensiones ecológicas. Son reales, pero no naturales.
Desde esta postura, la psicoterapia relacional crítica de tercer orden reflexiona y se construye a partir de las siguientes preguntas:
¿Por qué surge la psicopatología y cuál es su definición? ¿La psicopatología tiene una dimensión sociopolítica? ¿Qué tiene que ver la injusticia con la psicopatología? ¿En qué se enfoca la exploración diagnóstica del tercer orden? ¿Qué es la conciencia de tercer orden y qué método clínico se propone para visibilizarla? ¿Cómo provocar la conciencia del tercer orden? ¿Es posible que el tercer orden se encuentre en la dimensión íntima relacional e incluso en la identidad individual? ¿Qué es el diagnóstico para la psicoterapia de tercer orden? ¿Cuál es el objetivo clínico de la psicoterapia relacional de tercer orden? ¿Cuáles son los pasos para una psicoterapia familiar de tercer orden?
Organización clínica:
1. Se amplía intencionalmente la circularidad dialógica para reconocer los aspectos estructurales que interfieren en el diálogo solidario en la esfera íntima del consultante.
2.Esto provoca una reflexión espiral que permite reflexionar de manera crítica sobre la identidad y las relaciones.
3. Se genera así una posición activa que permite reconceptualizar a la persona capaz de incidir en los contextos íntimos para lograr el respeto y el amor que se merece.
4. Se estimula la reflexión autocrítica ecológica para evitar el victimismo y fomentar la acción.
5. Se provoca una mirada ecológica del self que visibiliza a los demás como personas dignas con quienes se tiene que dialogar para afrontar juntos las vicisitudes de la vida cotidiana, el amor indignado.
6. Se reconoce la evolución del problema, su participación en él y los cambios realizados.
7. Evaluación: el síntoma desaparece porque ya no existen las condiciones ecológicas que lo sostenían.

PhD in Social Psychology from the Complutense University of Madrid, Master’s Degree in Family Therapy from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Postdoctoral Stay at the University of Cambridge (BY-FELLOW at Churchill College) in England.
Currently Professor-Researcher at the University of Guadalajara. Mexico, Oversea Fellow University of Cambridge, UK 2024-2025. Founder and President of the Institute Tzapopan, Mexico. He has been a visiting professor in Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Chile, Perú, Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador. He is a member of the National System of Researchers Level II in México.
His central research topics are the social psychology of families, couples, adolescents, childhood, organizations and science theory. His main contributions have been Socio-Political and Family Context of Childhood Depression. Empathic Systemic Identification Among "Antisocial" Adolescents. New Family Contract. Third-Order Critical Family Therapy, Multidimensional Couple, Family of Choice as a Third-Order Therapeutic Resource and Collaborative Consulting in Organizations.
For more than thirty years, he has been a relational psychotherapist for individuals, couples and families in Great Britain, Spain and Mexico.

Isabelle Roskam

Title

Understanding Parental Burnout: Significance and Implications

Abstract

Parental burnout is a complex phenomenon that challenges the idyllic narrative of parenting as a source of joy and pride. It is characterized by profound exhaustion, emotional distancing from one’s children, and a loss of pleasure in parental roles. This presentation will delve into the intricacies of parental burnout, distinguishing it from typical parenting stress and exploring its prevalence, antecedents, and consequences. Recent empirical research has shown that approximately 5% of parents globally experience parental burnout, with prevalence rates varying significantly across cultural contexts and values. Key risk factors include personal vulnerabilities, parenting styles, and family dynamics, while mediators such as parental self-discrepancy illuminate how cultural influences shape burnout experiences. The impact of parental burnout extends beyond the individual parent, with bidirectional effects on children’s behavior and family relationships, including increased risks of neglect and aggression. Evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies highlight the importance of early detection and compassionate support, emphasizing the rebalancing of stressors and resources. Central to these efforts is the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), a validated tool that facilitates accurate diagnosis and guides effective treatment. This keynote will underscore that while parental burnout is a significant challenge, it is both preventable and treatable, offering pathways to recovery and resilience for affected families through targeted psychological interventions.

Isabelle Roskam is Doctor of Psychological Sciences, and a Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Louvain in Belgium. Before devoting herself to the study of parental burnout, Isabelle directed the "H2M Children" research program on the development and care of so-called "difficult" children. At the same time, she worked for 10 years as a clinician at the Saint Luc University Clinics in Brussels, in the neuropediatric unit.
In 2015, Isabelle and Moïra Mikoljaczak combined their expertise and initiated a large research program to shed light on the nature, causes, consequences and treatment of parental burnout. They founded the IIPB, an international research consortium on parental burnout that now brings together 50 countries. With the collaboration of their team, the consortium and many researchers (and parents!) around the world, they have contributed to develop this field of research and published the results of their work in numerous scientific articles and books. They also co-direct the Training Institute for Psychology & Health and the Parental Burnout Research Lab, reference centers for parental burnout.

Angela Abela

Title

Challenges that contemporary European families are facing

Abstract

We live in an era where global challenges, including demographic shifts, international migration, technological advancements, climate change, geopolitical risks, and socio-political upheavals form part of the lived experience of families in Europe. A broader ethical revolution stressing individual needs serves as a backdrop to contemporary European society. Over one fifth (22.4%) of the EU population in households with dependent children are still living at risk of poverty and social exclusion (Eurostat 2022) and although women have a higher level of education than their partners, gender inequality still prevails. In 2021, 18% of women in the EU who ever had a partner endured physical or sexual violence by their partner and the prevalence went up to 32% when taking into account psychological violence. In my presentation, I will reflect on the challenges these trends present to contemporary families and what it takes to live a fulfilling family life today.
A systemic framework that takes into account the socio-cultural context and the prevailing beliefs informing one’s behaviour will form part of my theoretical framework. Resilience and attachment theories will also be considered. A social justice lens will allow me to highlight the importance of equity and support in families.
In my presentation, findings that came out from the European Values Survey (EVS 2020) and the World Values Survey(2017-2022), examples from clinical practice, as well as other data on family wellbeing among Europeans, will help us understand better how families in Europe are re-editing their family life. What are some of the recommendations that need to be put forward for families to flourish?

Angela Abela is a full professor at the Department of Child and Family Studies, a clinical psychologist,a UKCP registered family therapist, and a supervisor. She holds a PhD from the Tavistock Clinic and the University of London and a Master's degree in Clinical psychology from the Université de La Sorbonne Paris V. She played a pioneering role in the setting up of a Centre for Family Studies at the University of Malta which later became the Department of Family Studies. She was course proposer for both the Master in Family Studies and the Master in Family Therapy and Systemic Practice.
Formerly teaching within the Department of Psychology, she was the first Director of Studies for the Master in Clinical, Counselling and Educational Psychology. She held the post of President of the Maltese Psychological Association, and played a leading role in the setting up of the psychology profession in Malta. She also spearheaded the setting up of the Maltese Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (MAFT-SP) which is affiliated with the European Family Therapy Association and is currently serving as its President. She is a former chairperson of the National Family Commission and currently is Deputy chairperson of the Committee for Positive Parenting and Strengthening of the Family.
She supervises professionals working in public social agencies in the area of children and families and serves as a consultant in the area of children and families for government and the Standing Committees on Social Affairs and on Family Affairs in Parliament. On an international level, she has worked extensively as an expert for the Council of Europe in the area of children and families. She has published widely in the field of family studies and is a former associate editor of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by Sage. She is also an International Advisory Editor of Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, a peer-reviewed journal published by Springer Science. In 2022, she received the European Family Therapy Association award in recognition of her excellence in the field of research in family therapy and systemic practice.

Vanessa May

Photo by Veikko Somerpuro

Title

Following families into public spaces: Implications for family studies

Abstract

It has by now become commonplace for family scholars to question taken-for-granted notions of what ‘family’ is. And yet, families tend to be studied as bounded units with an ‘inside’ and an ‘outside’, spatially centred in the home. This paper is concerned with the boundaries of attention that govern how families are conceptualised and researched by family scholars. Echoing the boundary that is drawn between ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres of life, ‘family’ is often understood to happen in relationships between family members, frequently contained within the nuclear family. Another recent focus is how families display their family to others, both inside and outside the home. In this paper, I propose a reframing of what is counted as part of family life. I illustrate what such a reframing might look like with the help of empirical studies that have followed families into public spaces. These show the importance of not only empirically capturing a broader set of goings-on as part of family life but also focusing on how mundane interactions with non-family and activities in public settings are woven into family life. Furthermore, it is worth re-thinking what space means for family life. Using the example of cities, I argue that city spaces and urban infrastructure are not mere ‘context’ but can be viewed as characters in family life. Rethinking the boundaries of attention of family studies in such ways can be generative because it allows family scholars to pursue new questions and to gain new understanding of how families are constituted and lived.

Vanessa May is Professor and Head of Sociology at the University of Manchester and a founding member of the Morgan Centre for Research into Everyday Lives. Her research interests include family life, belonging, temporality, human mobility and qualitative methods. Vanessa has published in a number of journals including Sociology, British Journal of Sociology, Sociological Review, and Time & Society.
She is the author of Families (Polity) and Connecting Self to Society: Belonging in a Changing World (Palgrave Macmillan), and co-editor of Sociology of Personal Life (2nd edition, Red Globe).

Alda Botelho de Azevedo

Title

Family dynamics in transition: Navigating population change and housing challenges

Abstract

Housing is a crucial factor in shaping family formation, mobility, intergenerational support and social inequalities. Yet housing has often been treated as peripheral to the social sciences. This keynote argues that population dynamics is the missing link that connects housing and families.
Today's global housing crisis, characterised by rising inequalities and affordability challenges, underlines the urgency of bridging these fields. Changes in population size and age structure, as well as patterns of household formation, dissolution and composition, have a direct impact on housing demand. Drawing on empirical research from the Portuguese case, I will show how past public policies have shaped housing preferences, complicating solutions to the current affordability crisis.
Multiple forces are driving today's housing crisis: demographic shifts, economic inequalities, market speculation, increased foreign investment and policy inertia. In Southern Europe, delayed parental exit from the housing market, low fertility rates, population ageing and an over-reliance on home ownership create additional barriers to stable family formation. These factors exacerbate social inequalities and contribute to 'housing traps' that delay transitions to adulthood, limit residential mobility and increase dependence on intergenerational transfers.
Despite these profound connections, housing remains marginal in mainstream social science research, partly due to its interdisciplinary complexity and the challenges of linking households and housing data. Yet if we are to fully understand family dynamics, we must acknowledge that housing conditions are both a consequence and a driver of demographic change.
Population dynamics are the thread that weaves housing and families together. Access to housing influences who forms families, when and how; conversely, changing family needs reshape housing demand and urban landscapes. Without a population focus, we risk missing critical insights into how housing structures the life chances, stability and relationship patterns of families across society.

Alda Botelho Azevedo holds a Ph.D. in Demography from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). She is currently a researcher at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa (ICS-ULisboa) and a guest lecturer at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas. She is the ICS coordinator of the PhD programme in Population Sciences (ULisboa) and is a member of its Scientific Committee. Her research focuses on the interrelationships between population, family dynamics, and housing, covering topics such as demographic aging, housing accessibility and affordability, homeownership trends in Southern Europe, short-term rental impacts on urban housing markets, and the alignment of housing supply with population needs. She has coordinated scientific studies for various organizations, including the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, the Luso-American Development Foundation, and the Cascais Municipality.