Reflections on Ways to Create a Safe Therapeutic Culture for Children in Family Therapy

Abstract

Although a large number of publications in the family therapy field stress the importance of children in family therapy, some authors report that, in practice, many family therapists do not actively involve children in their therapies. In this article, I reflect on the experiential reasons for this exclusion of children. I will consider the importance of the use of the self of the therapist and of the creation of a safe therapeutic culture for the child. Practical suggestions are made of ways to involve children in family therapy. Finally, these ideas are illustrated in a case example of a family therapy with an adoptive family.

Werken met de mogelijkheden van cliënten en gezinnen met behulp van kernkwadranten en genogrammen

“…Jonge kinderen zijn over het algemeen erg open en spreken over hun familie op een leuke en humoristische manier. Bovendien zijn zij bruikbare gidsen bij het zoeken naar positieve krachten, personen, relaties of mogelijkheden (Andolfi, Angelo & De Nichilo, 1989;Berg & Steiner, 2003;Carr, 1994;2003;Rober, 1998). Ouders zijn ook vaak verbaasd over de kennis die hun kinderen over hun gezin van herkomst hebben.…”

“…Ook recente stromingen in de systeemtheorie zijn veel meer gericht op mogelijkheden dan op problemen of pathologie. Een voorbeeld van een richting waarin die centraal staan, is de zogenaamde oplossingsgerichte therapie (De Shazer, 1985;Berg & De Jong, 1996, 1998. In de narratieve -verhalende -richting spreekt men over het samen cree¨ren van een hoopvoller verhaal of een constructievere betekenisgeving.…”

A thematic review of the family therapy journals of 1998

“…This year Rober (1998) Molner Schatz (1998) also writes about using puppet shows in family therapy although her proposal is that family and play therapy need to be more integrated.…”

Interpersonal Influence in Families: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Influence in Families Questionnaire

“…It has been argued that the processes of interpersonal influence which occur in close relationships affect the personal and psychological development of the relationship partners (Bandura, 1997;Bateson, 1979;Huston, 2002;Seligman, 1975) and the formation and functioning of relationships and family systems (Cook, 2001;De Mol & Buysse, 2008a;Street, 1994). Furthermore, interpersonal influence has acquired a central place within family therapy because of its constructive power in family systems (Rober, 1998) and its usefulness for systemic family assessment (Cook, 2005;De Mol, Buysse, & Cook, 2010). Due to its centrality and importance for families, the concept of interpersonal influence seems to be a well-studied domain, which has been addressed through concepts such as power (Huston, 2002), persuasion (Hsiung & Bagozzi, 2003), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) and control (Cook, 1993(Cook, , 2001).…”