Families, Illness, & Collaborative Healthcare (FICH) Program 

Our approach depathologizes painful and disruptive experiences and builds on family strengths and resources, empowering healthy functioning and the wellbeing of all members. We help people with major health conditions seize opportunities to repair troubled relationships, and to live and love well in the face of physical limitations and threatened loss. Our collaborative approach encourages partnership of biomedical and psychosocial providers, patients, their families, and other caregivers. Caring for families to promote prevention and maximize their resources can be both successful and cost effective. 

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Program goals: 

• Develop & provide access to services that help families recognize their strengths, meet common challenges, and thrive 

• Train professionals in a systems-oriented, strength-based model of working with families facing chronic illness, disability, terminal illness and loss. 

• Train leadership in service delivery systems to effect changes in their institutions to address the needs of families. 

 

Clinical Supervision 

Individual and group supervision are offered for professionals working in healthcare, social service, or private practice settings with families facing serious illness, disability, and loss. Participants discuss their cases with expert CCFH faculty and benefit from group feedback. The format includes case presentation, review of videotaped sessions, and role-play. 

 

Community Consultation Services 

CCFH offers in-service training and collaborative projects with community-based health, mental health and social service organizations. We offer effective methods to foster healthy family functioning in living with major health conditions. Working in partnership, we promote systemic change, incorporating family-oriented practices in program planning and implementation. CCFH has provided consultation services for a variety of organizations in Chicago including: Lurie Children’s Hospital; Advocate Illinois Masonic Healthcare; Kovler Diabetes Center at Pritzker Medical Center, University of Chicago; Gilda’s Club Chicago; M.S. Society of Illinois, and NorthShore University HealthSystem.  

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Counseling / Therapy Services: Illness, Disability, End of Life Challenges & Loss 

Expert counseling services are available for individuals, couples and families coping with the challenges of chronic medical conditions, disability, terminal illness, and bereavement. See Counseling & Therapy. 

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FICH Doctoral Fellowship Program 1997 – 2023

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For the past 26 years, CCFH provided a one-year full-time Fellowship in Families, Illness, and Collaborative Healthcare in collaboration with Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center Department of Family Practice. The Fellowship has generated leaders in the field of family-oriented integrated healthcare.  Former Fellows have gone on to excel in highly productive careers in academic, behavioral science director, training, research, and practice positions nationwide and in contributions to the field through publications, presentations, and emerging leadership in national organizations (CFHA, AAMFT, and AFTA).

 

From Our Past Doctoral Fellows...

 

“The diversity of clinical settings, collaborations, and mentoring opportunities separates this fellowship from other training experiences. The FICH fellowship was one of the most beneficial and impactful experiences of my life. The expertise and mentorship from Dr. Rolland, Dr. Zuckerman and others helped me develop a deeper level of integrated and systemic skills in working with couples and families” 

                       Max Zubatsky, PhD, LMFT ~ Associate Professor & Director

                                         Medical Family Therapy Program, Saint Louis University

                                                         

“I chose the CCFH Fellowship over a full-time academic position because I wanted to learn couple and family therapy from John, Froma, and other distinguished teachers in the field. I am now a better clinician and supervisor and grateful I applied.”        

                                                Matthew Martin, PhD, MS, LMFT

                                                              Director, Behavioral Health Program, Arizona State University 

CFHA, Families and Health Special Interest Group Chair 

 

“The CCFH fellowship was a transformative experience for me both personally and professionally. The fellowship provided an excellent blend of experiential and structured learning opportunities, practical supervision, and diverse clinical populations and settings. This fellowship was an essential capstone experience to my MedFT training” 

                                                              Zephon Lister, PhD, LMFT   ~ Director, Systems, Families, & Couples PhD Program

                                                                                           Dept. of Counseling & Family Sciences, Loma Linda University, California 

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“The expertise I gained continues to bear fruit in my clinical work, teaching, and research.  The MedFT values  of agency and communion became deeply ingrained in me as I worked in two different medical contexts, one an integrative medicine practice. Dr. Rolland and the faculty were supportive of my interest in the intersection of spirituality and health ...this invaluable training opportunity continues to impact my conceptualization of the multi-directional impact of illness, disability, and the family system.” 

                                                                                      Miyoung Yoon Hammer, PhD,

                                                                                                        Chair, Dept. of Marriage & Family, Fuller Theological Seminary, California