This collection of essays from leading psychotherapists taps into the current literature on the efficacy of working with parents in solving their children's problems. Wachs and Jacobs focus on identifying and evaluating a variety of approaches and their effects on standard questions of attachment, identity and reflection.

Today more pediatric therapists are centering their work on the parent-child relationship and are turning to parents as a primary modality in solving children's problems. Parent-Focused Child Therapy: Attachment, Identification, and Reflective Functions is an edited collection, drawing from leading psychotherapists with specialties in family therapy. Carrol Wachs and Linda Jacobs tap into the current literature on the efficacy of working with parents in therapy situations. The collected essays in this book, from renowned psychotherapists, focus on identifying and evaluating a variety of approaches and their effects on standard questions of attachment, identity, and reflection in dealing with children in therapy. Parent-Focused Child Therapy is especially attractive given its currency, integrating relational theory, attachment theory and infant research.

Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), grounded in the attitudes and principles of Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT), is based on the belief that a parent acting as an agent for change in place of a play therapist has potential for significant and lasting therapeutic gains. This newly expanded and revised edition of Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) describes training objectives, essential skills and concepts taught in each session, as well as the format for supervising parents’ play sessions. Transcripts of actual sessions demonstrate process and content in the 10 CPRT training sessions. Research demonstrating the effectiveness of CPRT on child and parent outcomes is presented in support of CPRT’s designation as an evidence-based treatment model. This second edition is updated to include six new chapters exploring the topics of cultural considerations for working with ethnically and racially diverse families, neuroscience support for CPRT, and adaptions for specific populations including parents of toddlers, parents of preadolescents, adoptive families, and the teacher/student relationship. The authors’ expertise and experience results in a book that is essential reading for both students and professionals. By using this text and the accompanying treatment manual, filial therapists will have a complete package for training parents in the CPRT model.

This practical book presents readers with a skills-based, child rearing approach to supporting a child’s growth and helping them overcome both minor and major developmental challenges. In contrast to conventional approaches to child psychology, this innovative approach focuses on developing children’s abilities rather than concentrating on and trying to fix their “problems.” Additionally, instead of blaming caretakers for their child’s challenges, the skills approach offers them the keys with which they can coach and motivate their children to overcome challenges by learning required skills. Readers will find it easy to grasp the idea of the skills mindset through the book’s wealth of eye-opening stories, case examples, and the author’s personal insights as a psychotherapist, parent, and creator of the Kids’Skills method. Clear, detailed instructions will help readers immediately put the ideas into everyday practice with their own children and families. This book is a must-have, hope-instilling toolbox for anyone involved in the task of raising a child. Parents, grandparents, teachers, mental health professionals, and more will find this a valuable resource in ensuring the future success of the children in their lives.

An expert clinician brings attachment theory into the realm of parenting skills. Attachment security and affect regulation have long been buzzwords in therapy circles, but many of these ideas—so integral to successful therapeutic work with kids and adolescents— have yet to be effectively translated to parenting practice itself. Moreover, as neuroscience reveals how the human brain is designed to work in good relationships, and how such relationships are central to healthy human development, the practical implications for the parent-child attachment relationship become even more apparent. Here, a leading attachment specialist with over 30 years of clinical experience brings the rich and comprehensive field of attachment theory and research from inside the therapy room to the outside, equipping therapists and caregivers with practical parenting skills and techniques rooted in proven therapeutic principles. A guide for all parents and a resource for all mental health clinicians and parent-educators who are searching for ways to effectively love, discipline, and communicate with children, this book presents the techniques and practices that are fundamental to optimal child development and family functioning—how to set limits, provide guidance, and manage the responsibilities and difficulties of daily life, while at the same time communicating safety, fun, joy, and love. Filled with valuable clinical vignettes and sample dialogues, Hughes shows how attachment-focused research can guide all those who care for children in their efforts to better raise them.

"Never disappoints. A concise authoritative guide, this book is a treasure-trove and delight to read. It provides the reader with an overview of the contemporary early intervention landscape with sufficient detail to allow readers to feel familiar with the key aspects of each approach, without overwhelming them with too much new information.” — Alan Carr, PhD, FPSsI, FBPsS, Professor of Clinical Psychology, UCD, and Family Therapist, Clanwilliam Institute, Ireland. Early childhood is the most critical phase in human development. Negative influences can contribute to irreversible life-long struggles. What is learned in the first five years of life becomes the foundation for subsequent learning. It is vitally important that we effectively treat mental health problems when we find them in preschoolers. Psychological Treatment Approaches for Children and Their Families provides a comprehensive overview of 14 commonly available therapeutic interventions for children aged 3–5 years. It fills an important gap in a field where information about treatment options is limited compared with those suitable for older children and adolescents. The interventions presented are evidence-based and reflect various research backgrounds and theories of change. They are grouped into four sections covering individual child treatments, parent-focused approaches, dyadic carer-child interventions, and family-systems models. Each section describes the models in a condensed yet comprehensive summary, offering information on its evidence base, key concepts, stages of therapy, session structure, treatment effects, and training options, along with a case study example illustrating the therapy in practice. The structure allows the reader to decide what treatments can be used for what presenting problem and under what conditions. A set of exercise questions concludes the end of each chapter to encourage better theory-practice links. The result is a text that provides ample opportunities for students and therapists to develop a knowledge base and understanding of how to best approach the treatment of psychological disorders in this age group. Edited and authored by a select group of experienced clinical psychologists and psychiatrists with a particular interest in paediatric clinical psychology, this text is relevant for students, therapists, trainers and supervisors, referrers, researchers, and funding bodies, as well as all those undergoing training in disciplines related to child development and clinical child psychology.

Help your clients facilitate positive changes with these innovative therapeutic exercises! The Therapist's Notebook for Families empowers mental health professionals with clear, practical, easy-to-use therapeutic exercises for working with parents, adolescents, children, and families. These exercises will improve your effectiveness with clients, helping them to explore possibilities, find solutions, and create change in spite of difficult problems. The current climate in the mental health field calls for professionals to be both effective and accountable. This book will help you to work more effectively and more respectfully with clients with an array of exercises designed to facilitate change processes. These activities will help you and your clients in: establishing goals and projected outcomes changing unhealthy views improving on their current style of action/interaction identifying and amplifying change managing setbacks ending therapy This volume include suggestions for the best ways to use the exercises as well as descriptions of the purpose of each activity. The Therapist's Notebook for Families will prove invaluable in your work with families!

Many resources exist for helping parents find and select a psychotherapist for their child. However, when a child is recommended for therapy, parents are often left with little information beyond the initial referral. Parents who are unfamiliar with the process might be confused on how to proceed, or be wary of therapy stereotypes. You and Your Child's Psychotherapy demystifies the way therapy works, helping parents enter the process as a partner, and giving their child and family the best chance for success. Weiner and Gallo-Silver guide parents through the steps of therapy, emphasizing their vital role and how they can contribute to the success of their child's treatment. With the end goal of creating a partnership between parents and therapists, You and Your Child's Psychotherapy provides a practical and easy-to-follow roadmap to the progression of therapy, helping parents become more involved, and teaching them what to expect. This book is empowering for all parents, guardians, and primary caregivers across the diverse composition of modern families.

From the founder of DDP, this updated and comprehensive guide is the authoritative text on DDP. DDP is an attachment-focused treatment for children and adolescents who experience abuse and neglect and who are now living in stable foster and adoptive families. Its central interventions are influenced by enhanced knowledge about the structure and functions of the brain, as well as the latest findings regarding developmental trauma and the related attachment problems it brings.