Intermediate Certificate in Systemic Practice – Year 2

John Cavanagh is a qualified mental health nurse (RMN). He has worked in acute services for CAMHS, inpatient and community. This also included working in an adult crisis team context. Since qualifying as a Family & Systemic Psychotherapist in 2012, John has worked with a variety of presenting problems with individuals, couples and families including many mental health diagnosis and Family life cycle changes. These are of special interest to him alongside the exploration of identity, including ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’.  In 2015 John qualified as a Systemic Supervisor. His interest in the supervisory relationship has continued to grow and he has taught on a variety of IFT courses since then including practice courses, Msc & supervisor courses and as a tutor on the intermediate course at IFT.  John has written articles for ‘context’, topics have included transgenerational ideas and the impact of COVID-19.  John’s previous employment included being embedded within a children’s social care context offering systemic psychotherapy to families where there is a risk of a family member becoming a LAC or going to custody. John feels privileged to be the consultant professional lead for systemic practice and psychotherapy for Sussex CAMHS, where he can influence the system and raise the profile of the profession. John also continues to work with families, as the principal systemic psychotherapist for acute services in Sussex which allows learning regarding managing many systems and working with families in acute mental health distress.