Welcome to Systemic Connections: Systemic Family Therapy Community

We believe in enabling meaningful conversations and reflections centred around systemic ideas that inspire, support and connect within us and between us.

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Our Founders

We are Kelly Johnson and Jehan Ganachaud.

Founders of this systemic community we call Systemic Connections. We are currently training at Intermediate Level with the Institute of Family Therapy in London. We are both based in East Anglia, England.

We met in 2021 as colleagues and quickly became good friends. Our love of systemic ideas has brought us so much joy, deep reflection, inspiration, challenge, creativity, deliberation, hope and changed perspectives. The ideas have changed us individually, our relationships, how we support others in our work and even our route map forward creating this space!

We feel compelled to share these ideas and hope you will love them as much as we do. We also hope you will find in us a place to land if you feel the same or want to learn more.

Our place

We want to create something special. For us as founders to be proud of. For us as a community to value. And for you - here and on your own personal and/or professional path.

We want to create something that feels alive, connected and shaped by the people within it.

A space where different voices, stories and experiences can sit alongside one another, and where new possibilities for you can emerge through conversation and connection of our hearts and minds.

Rather than arriving with all the answers, we want to stay curious about what matters to you and what this systemic community might become together.

So tell us what you value, what helps you feel a sense of belonging, and what you would love to see grow here.

This is foremost a place to be, to talk and be systemic, to feel able to explore and develop, to feel supported and grow. Come as you are.

We know we need a systemic community around us to really immerse ourselves in these ideas and we think you might value that too.

Our offer

We are starting simply with a Systemic Ideas Blog and a wish to grow slowly, thoughtfully and in ways that feel meaningful. Our hope is that others may wish to contribute to our blog inviting different perspectives around these ideas and how they relate in everyday life.

We want to create a place where people learning about systemic ideas can feel less alone in their thinking; we would love for experienced systemic professionals to join us and share their wealth of knowledge and experience and enjoy the systemic conversations.

You may have done a short course, you may know very little about being systemic but want to learn more, you may be on your Systemic Family Therapy training pathway or you are a highly experienced Systemic Family Therapist. We welcome everyone - a wide spectrum of perspectives is highly valuable here.

We hope families can find the ideas which might open up new possibilities; and, we want organisations to find the ideas when relationships within teams feel stuck or strained.

We really believe these ideas are for everyone.

At the heart of it all are the ideas themselves — shared openly, shaped through different perspectives, and available to anyone who might find them useful.

We don’t want to place limits around who this is for; we’re more interested in what can emerge when curiosity, connection and conversation are given room to grow.

Social GRACES

Social GRACES is a systemic framework for understanding the various aspects of identity and social position that influence our experiences in the world and shape how others perceive us. This framework encompasses elements such as gender, geography, race, religion, age, ability, class, culture, education, ethnicity, employment, sexuality, sexual orientation, spirituality, and more, while also acknowledging that some aspects of identity hold more visibility, privilege, or silence than others.

Recognizing these systemic connections is crucial because relationships never occur in isolation. Power dynamics, differences, and lived experiences are always inherent in social interactions. By paying attention to our Social GRACES, we cultivate a sense of curiosity about our own position and become aware of whose voices may resonate more loudly or softly. This awareness allows us to build relationships that are thoughtful, respectful, and collaborative—qualities that are particularly important in community support initiatives as well as in family therapy training.

We would like to share some of the Social GRACES we observe about ourselves below, so you can better understand us and how we can best connect with one another.

Our Social GRACES

Kelly

I am a white woman in midlife. I am a mum of teenagers, a long-term partner, auntie, daughter-in-law, and I have friends who are like family. I carry the experiences, tensions, and perspectives of more than one social world. I am able-bodied but have navigated periods of health uncertainty and vulnerability throughout my life. Liminality is at the core of my lived experience internally, relationally, and contextually. I'm told I am thoughtful, resilient, kind, and playful.

I admire the activism and poetry of Maya Angelou, the daring courage and vulnerability found in Brenè Brown's teachings, and the beautiful messy flourishing of Edith Eger despite facing the cruellest of times.

Raised in the Church of England, I don't adhere to any particular religion now, but I care deeply about the human condition and trauma-informed practice.

My work intersects with three family generations (Murray Bowen, McGoldrick & Gerson) to learn more about what happened around us and before us; what deserves to be grieved; and what we might choose to carry forward differently. How do we become who we are through relationships, culture, history, adversity, and belonging? I’m particularly drawn to systemic ideas surrounding family patterns (Byng-Hall) and the stories—lived, unknown, untold, unheard, untellable, and told—in family lives (LUUUUTT). I care deeply about the meaning we make and how it shapes our actions (Pearce and Cronen), as well as the 'afterlife' of relational experiences (Carpenter). Often, the meaning we derive from relationships differs between individuals, and we seldom check that out. Relationships are at the center of everything that feels important and possible, and I’m committed to fostering community support through these connections.

I have a long and proud professional history in Therapeutic Social Work, Theraplay®, Adoption and Permanence, including Kinship Care, and Relational Trauma Recovery (18 years) as well as Children’s Local Authority Services (since 2003). I occupy positions of both authority and vulnerability across my personal and professional life, which illustrates how power is relational, contextual, and shifting. My undergraduate degree is in Psychology, and I hold a Master’s Degree in Social Work. I am 'Dare to Lead' trained (Brenè Brown) and trained in the BdT Trauma Recovery Focused Model (TRFM®). Currently, I am a Systemic Family Therapy Trainee, proudly looking forward to being identified as a Systemic Practitioner in the Summer of 2027 after my family therapy training.

Creativity, appreciating the small things in life, and bringing people together sit at the heart of who I am. Food often plays a central role in this. Creating spaces where people feel they belong and can be authentic is important to me, not least because it's in these spaces that we repair, grow, connect, think, enjoy, discover, and feel seen. I have a deep appreciation for nature, the beauty of awe, storytelling, and those quietly powerful moments that leave a heart print. I believe paying attention to the small details matters. I enjoy using metaphor and digital illustration to convey ideas and deepen my learning. My love for photography complements my appreciation for the work of others in this field. I hope to share some of my work with you here. I also really love theatre and all kinds of music, especially live events.

I am shaped by place and culture. My life is rooted in Cambridgeshire, England, although Cornwall has my heart, where the beauty, rhythmic and repetitive nature of the sea, and the slower pace of life provide opportunities for mindfulness and calm.

You can connect with me at: kelly@systemicconnections.co.uk

Jehan

Because of where I live in England, my identity is visibly shaped by being a White cisgender male, married in a heterosexual relationship, enjoying able-bodied privilege, and identifying as middle-class. These aspects hold significant privilege in many contexts and are part of dominant discourses.

Living in England also means I need to consider my identities as French and American. These identities not only frame my personal relationships but also influence my interactions with the government and my family. Growing up in France until I was nearly 19 and spending some years in Germany has deeply rooted my identity in French culture while my experiences in the USA and the UK have cultivated a strong attachment to American ideals of freedom and social justice.

Key aspects of my life include being a father and husband (currently in my second marriage, which adds nuances to how others perceive me), a brother, an uncle, and a friend. People often describe me as friendly, kind, and possibly a nerd, as I enjoy reading work-related material and learning. Besides my passion for science, research, and therapy literature, I have a fondness for words, languages, the Marvel (multi/uni)verse, and fantasy books with magic. I also love spending time outdoors and enjoy visiting a wetland centre nearby, which connects me to community support initiatives in my area.

Raised in a Catholic environment, I believe in God and find value in Christianity, though I don’t strictly align with any denomination. I appreciate Taoism and resonate with the teachings of the Tao Te Ching. If I were to join a religious organization, it would be the Quakers, as their values resonate with mine.

In my professional role as a mental health practitioner, often referred to as a therapist, I prefer to identify as a systemic practitioner, a title that reflects my core beliefs. Over the past six years, I've had the honour of working alongside foster and adoptive families, which has taught me invaluable lessons about trauma, resilience, hopes, change, grief, and compassion.

I have a strong interest in research focusing on trauma-informed organizations, developmental trauma, grief, loss, and ambiguous loss. I also explore non-Western methods for supporting families and individuals facing challenges, alongside ways to foster community support and empower communities to find their own solutions to problems.

Currently, my favorite systemic ideas include CMM, the understanding that everything is perceived through relationships (for example, resilience emerging from and enacted within relationships), as well as exploring dominant and subjugated stories and the voices allowed to tell narratives that deserve to be heard.

I look forward to connecting with you: jehan@systemicconnections.co.uk

Our Logo

Our logo is composed of a circle called the Ensō symbol. The symbol originates from the Japanese Zen tradition and was introduced to me (Jehan) when I was reading Thomas Hübl's book Healing collective trauma: a process for integrating our intergenerational and cultural wounds. The symbol resonated very much with me. I could see so many words and meanings associated with it and contained within one picture. I saw it as beginnings and endings, cycles, patterns, ruptures and repairs, being part of a bigger whole while also feeling the emptiness and disconnect at times, the idea of imperfection and many more meanings.

From a systemic perspective, I thought it summarised a lot of concepts such as relationships, connection and disconnection, circularity, rupture and repair, life cycles and more. When I shared it with Kelly, she liked it as well and the idea of flow, beginning, endings, journey, and growth. Kelly added to the logo ourselves and our community within this symbolism. Kelly also saw a wave that resonated with her love of the ebb and flow of the sea.

We hope you will also like it and find within it meanings that speaks to you.