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This book is written for professionals working with children, parents, and families primarily in non-clinical settings, but others working in a wide range of statutory services will benefit from the ideas presented here. In particular, the case examples are interesting and clearly illustrative of relevant principles. Some are quite moving. They also speak to the myriad of frustrations inherent across the range of work settings included here.
In setting out her ‘core principles of assessment and therapeutic communication’, the author certainly achieves her aim of providing a conceptual framework as a foundation for child and family professionals in their everyday practice. She argues convincingly for time-limited therapeutic work, and that a deeper understanding of the child and family's emotional experience is not the sole preserve of long-term therapy or exclusive to a clinical setting.
Ruth Schmidt Neven is a child psychotherapist, psychologist, and researcher, trained at the Tavistock Clinic, London, and now Director of the Centre for Child and Family Development in Melbourne. Her approach has resonances in Tavistock courses such as ‘Therapeutic Communication with Children’, and ‘Emotional Aspects of Learning and Teaching’, as well as the Under Fives Counselling Service, all of which espouse similar methods and values as those described here.
Part One emphasises understanding the meaning of the child's behaviour in his/her inner world as opposed to pathologising it. This understanding occurs in the context of, and then is connected to, ‘the psycho-social experience of those around [the child]’, the child's stage of development, and the developmental tasks that the child and family are engaged in.
Part Two addresses the practicalities of assessment, and of therapeutic communication, which is conceived of as fostering and enhancing communication and relationships in the child's life. This section discusses the setting of the work, the referral process, use of observati