Meet Dr Louise Munro

Are you curious about the Phoenix teaching team? Then welcome to the fifth of the Teaching Team Introduction series of blogs to introduce Leonie and the Phoenix Family Therapy Teaching Team Associates and Guest Teaching Associates.

Relationships are at the heart of family therapy and systemic practice and start with introductions.  It’s important that at Phoenix we practice what we teach and embrace the relational principles that we espouse. So let’s keep going with getting to know the team in this blog series.

From Louise:

How did your interest in family therapy and systemic practice get sparked?

Wow, this is such a good question because it really got me thinking. And I think I came to family therapy and theories about systems sideways. I was fortunate to be introduced to Michael White's work and his use of reflecting teams. And I don't think I realized at the time the connection between this work and Andersen’s reflecting team process in family therapy. So in my learning at the time, it was more about what kinds of therapies work well with families rather than learning about “family therapy”. The idea of reconceptualizing problems, externalising, and asking about preferred outcomes resonated with me. I often take the view that therapy is often family therapy even when working with individuals because most of us have some kind of family connection or story that we bring to our experiencing of life.

What frameworks are you drawn to and why? And which figures in family therapy have been your biggest influences?

I'm very drawn to the frameworks that really privilege the client and the family as the experts on their own capacities, hopes, their pace, readiness, and their own family culture and dynamic. So those values fit well with the published work from Michael White, David Epstein, Tom Andersen, Harelene Anderson, and also Ken Gergen and David Pare. And probably some of these people aren't really considered primarily as family therapists, which goes back to that idea of being drawn to therapy that I can use with families. But I think there is a big difference for me in the influence of writers and the influence of people who I learned from directly and worked with. Exceptional lecturers and practitioners like Roger Lowe, Glen Guy, Paul Simmons and Scott Miller.

How has systemic thinking and practice influenced your work?

For me, there are some very strong connections around social constructionism as a philosophy and the invitation there to work systemically rather than individually. And that, of course, links very much with the narrative, solution oriented and collaborative, constructionist frameworks. These approaches also provide a place for being able to think about some of the social justice and political aspects of the work that we do. And I think that's really important because no individual and no family exists in a vacuum. Systemic thinking and practice support a broader exploration of people's experiences and their responses to those experiences.

Why have you chosen to go into a teaching/supervising/mentoring role in this field?

Another great question. I don't feel like I chose that, but I ended up there. And of course, on some level, yes, I did make choices, but it was never a goal. I fell into some teaching, and teaching led to supervision. And I really enjoyed it, although when I was at the university as a course coordinator, I really felt like an accidental academic. I think I probably said yes to filling in as a tutor or being a last-minute replacement for someone in a teaching role. And having not had a goal to be a teacher, probably helped me to go in and be very curious because I didn’t feel the need to be an expert—I was just filling in.

I had a very senior professor pull me aside at one point and let me know that the secret to being a great lecturer was to never admit you didn't know the answer. And I was quite shocked because I'd always gotten more joy and connection when I owned up to not knowing the answer and really modeled that genuine position, that there is always something more to learn, and that expertise is not always a top-down delivery. And I feel like students valued that authenticity as well.

If you could give one piece of advice to our program participants starting the 2-year accredited training program, the Advanced Certificate in Systemic Family Therapy and Practice, what would it be?

My advice would be: take everything with a grain of salt. Hold evidence lightly. Be suspicious of research. Be prepared to change your mind. Be prepared to not know. Get comfortable with ambiguity. And learn which parts of your instinct to trust and which parts are unconscious bias, or habits. (that last bit is the hardest I think).

What is something you love to do when you aren’t working?

Something I love to do when I'm not working—I’m a serial hobbyist, so this answer probably won’t be relevant in 12 months’ time. But at the moment, I’m writing short stories and having lots of fun. I’ve also dabbled in gardening, ceramics, music, and lots of other things. But, for now, it’s short stories.

Louise Munro

Psychologist

Director Envision Support and Research

Co-Director MACRO Impact Consulting

Teaching Team Member Phoenix Family Therapy Academy

Please note that this article is educational in nature and does not constitute professional or therapeutic advice or suggestion.