Dear Systemic Therapy Colleagues,

I am researching systemic therapists' perspectives on applying systemic skills, typically used with families and couples, to therapeutic work with friends.

Friendship therapy is an emerging field in psychotherapy research, primarily focused on individuals' ability to make and maintain friendships. However, friendships are some of the most important and enduring relationships in people's lives, and systemic therapy has yet to make a meaningful contribution to the topic. Given the relational underpinnings of systemic therapies, this research aims to fill that gap.

The objectives of the research are to:

• Examine how systemic therapists can integrate friendship therapy into their practice by incorporating it with existing systemic approaches, models, and techniques.
• Explore the potential barriers and facilitators to delivering friendship therapy and identify strategies to improve the delivery and accessibility of this intervention.
• Broaden the scope and inclusivity of systemic practice by making it available to people who do not have a traditional family structure and may experience barriers to accessing conventional forms of systemic therapy.

I am seeking qualified systemic practitioners who are English-speaking and working in the U.K. to participate in this study. I will invite participants to a virtual or in-person interview to share their perspectives. The discussion will take approximately one hour.

If you are willing and able to participate, your unique perspective and experiences will provide valuable data to help advance our understanding in this area. I also kindly request that you consider sharing the research advert with your systemic therapy network or any relevant mailing lists you can access.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and potential participation. If you have any questions or require further information about the research, please do not hesitate to contact me at [log in to unmask].

With gratitude, 

Elliott Burcham

Trainee Clinical Psychologist

University of Hertfordshire