Working with Parents: Establishing the Essential Alliance in Child Psychotherapy and Consultation

The author encourages therapists to approach parents as individuals (not just as parents), and to maintain the same professional perspective in dealing with them that informs the rest of their work. Illustrative case material draws on a considerable range of presenting pictures, from parents who are themselves therapists to those who have no frame of reference for treatment, from parents who seek help when a healthy youngster hits a developmental impasse to those whose lives are shattered by severe pathology and psychic isolation in their children. Integrating theory and technique to provide the practitioner with the tools to elicit collaboration from parents instead of obstruction, Siskind makes it possible for child therapists to sustain the interest, curiosity, neutrality, and empathy that are preconditions to effective treatment.