An Autoethnography of a Mentor, Educator, Therapist and Father: Experiences of Constructing an Experiential Strength-Based Approach to Engage Fathers in the Fatherhood Mentorship Program

Author

• Clinton Boyd Lambert, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Advisor

Ronald Chenail

Abstract

Epistemology is a fundamental and foundational aspect of all therapists’ practice (Keeney, 1983). My goal is to connect two epistemological ideas together and punctuate how they contribute to creative therapeutic distinctions. I start with exploring epistemology, beginning with Gregory Bateson’s relational language. He argued that in order to understand his epistemology, it required a “method of …double or multiple description, the juxtaposition of mental processes… to disclose the underlying patterns…embodied in them” (Bateson, 1991, p. XIII). I introduce this method of description as it relates to Bateson’s work, constructivist ideas, and marriage and family therapy. Then, in chapter two, I explore some of Bateson’s core ideas, listing them out in a specific order to be juxtaposed with the following two chapters. Following Bateson’s thought process, for chapter three, I chose constructivist ideas to correspond, section for section, featuring von Foerster, Maturana, and Gergen because they share a similar notion of relational language through biological and social systems (Raskin, 2002). Bateson's binocular vision metaphor is not only about the relationship between two or more ideas, but also the depth perception layer gained from understanding them together. This "depth perception" disclosed in this metaphor from the intentional juxtaposition of chapters two and three is described in parallel in chapter four, specifically through the lens of marriage and family therapy, exploring how some popular marriage and family therapy models used this relational thinking to develop and utilize some of their early therapeutic interventions. Additionally, I discuss how further therapeutic creativity can be developed by overtly connecting how these ideas have informed my decisions and thinking in general as it applies to marriage and family therapy.

NSUWorks Citation

Clinton Boyd Lambert. 2022. An Autoethnography of a Mentor, Educator, Therapist and Father: Experiences of Constructing an Experiential Strength-Based Approach to Engage Fathers in the Fatherhood Mentorship Program. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, . (124)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dft_etd/124.