Engaging Children in Family Therapy: Creative Approaches to Integrating Theory and Research in Clinical Practice (Routledge Series on Family Therapy and Counseling)

A common question at the initial meeting of a family therapist and a new client(s) is often whether or not to include a child or children in the counseling sessions. The inclusion of a child in the family therapy process often changes the dynamic between client and therapist -- and between the clients themselves -- within the context of the counseling sessions. And yet, although this is such a common experience, many counselors and family therapists are not adequately equipped to advise parents on whether to include a child in therapy sessions. Once the child does make an appearance in the counseling session, the therapist is faced with the challenges inherent in caring for a child, in addition to many concerns due to the unique circumstance of the structured therapy. Counseling a child in the context of a family therapy session is a specific skill that has not received the attention that it deserves.

This book is intended as a guide for both novice and experienced counselors and family therapists, covering a wide range of topics and offering a large body of information on how to effectively counsel children and their families. It includes recent research on a number of topics including working with children in a family context, the exclusion of children from counseling, and counselor training methods and approaches, the effectiveness of filial play therapy, the effects of divorce on children, and ADHD. Theoretical discussion is given to different family therapy approaches including family play therapy and filial play therapy. Central to the text are interviews with leaders in the field, including Salvador Minuchin, Eliana Gil, Rise VanFleet and Lee Shilts. A chapter devoted to ethical and legal issues in working with children in family counseling provides a much-needed overview of this often overlooked topic. Chapters include discussion of specific skills relevant to child counseling in the family context, case vignettes and examples, practical tips for the counselor, and handouts for parents.

• The Therapist's Notebook for Children and Adolescents
• Family Therapy Techniques
• Play in Family Therapy, Second Edition
• The Art of Strategic Therapy
• Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love
• Dibs in Search of Self: The Renowned, Deeply Moving Story of an Emotionally Lost Child Who Found His Way Back
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Its Effective Use in Agency Settings (Haworth Marriage and the Family)
• DSM-5® Made Easy: The Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition: DSM-5
• Physiology of Behavior (12th Edition)