‘Engaging’ in family therapy: problems for the inexperienced, uninvited therapist

‘Oh no! Not the Smiths again!’ An exploration of how to identify and overcome ‘stuckness’ in family therapy

“…However, as he also states: 'to be both human and a professional expert is a difficult task for some therapists'. In our experience this is a particular problem for beginning therapists, one that we have all encountered, and it is graphically described by Coulshed (1981): 'I did not manage to convince the family that I was more human than otherwise'. It is difficult not to be wooden and immovable when learning new skills.…”

“…Typically this allows the family to take back their share of the responsibility for change. It is not only inexperienced therapists who fall into a pattern of 'becoming a nag in pushing for change' (Coulshed, 1981). Indeed the more experienced and 'clever' we become, the more prone we may be to the sin of 'therapeutic arrogance': to assume that no one else has either the motivation or the ability to produce change.…”

L’intervention en situation de crise en protection de la jeunesse. Crise familiale ou crise organisationnelle?

“…Ces familles dites en crise perpétuelle (Berg, 1994;Kagan et Schlosberg, 1989;McCown et Johnson, 1993) manifesteraient peu d'anxiété et les modèles de thérapie familiale basés sur le postulat d'ouverture à l'aide offerte s'avéreraient inefficaces (Coulborn-Faller, 1985;Weitzman, 1985). Dans ces situations, certains soutiennent que seule la menace du retrait du domicile d'un ou des enfants pourrait provoquer une crise et ainsi mettre en place les conditions favorisant la collaboration (Cornille, 1989;Coulshed, 1981;Justice et Justice, 1990;Kagan et Schlosberg, 1989;Minuchin, 1974;O'Hagan, 1984). Mis à part ces quelques modèles coercitifs qui contraignent les familles à recevoir les services et pour lesquels on ne dispose pas de données d'évaluation (Justice et Justice, 1982Kagan et Schlosberg, 1989;Manning-Kendrick, 1991), la littérature nous apprend très peu sur la nature des interventions efficaces dans ce type de situation.…”