The Collateral Treatment of Parents with Children and Adolescents in Psychotherapy

Is Family Therapy Including Children?

“…It is generally accepted in the child counselling field, that therapists will usually work with children in conjunction with their parents, unless there are particular issues such as hostile custody battles (Johnston, Walters & Friedlander, ) or child protection where safety factors preclude family therapy (Lund, Zimmerman & Haddock, ). Child counsellors frequently work alongside family members with the dual aim of addressing family issues that are impacting the child, and utilising the strengths of the family to support child therapy (Geldard & Geldard, ; Sperling, ; Sutton, ; Walker, ). Several authors in the 1980s (Chethik, ; Combrinck‐Graham, ; Zilbach, ), sought to fuse an understanding of child development and child therapy with family therapy.…”

“…This includes factors like whether the co‐sleeping is reactive (not the parents’ first preference) or by choice (Keller & Goldberg, ). Where issues between the parents are a main concern, counselling for them rather than for the family may be helpful (Armbruster, Dobuler, Fischer & Grigsby, ; Boethius, Hallerfors, Horne & Tischler, ; Combrinck‐Graham, ; Sperling, ). If a child is part of a family therapy session addressing parenting differences, there may be negative psychological effects, such as the attribution of blame and feelings of guilt.…”

Termination of psychodynamic psychotherapy with adolescents: A review and contemporary perspective

“…The unique role of parents in the psychotherapeutic work with children and adolescents has been recognized and written about extensively for nearly half a century, although most of this work has focused on the early stages of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy (Altman, Briggs, Frankel, Gensler, & Pantone, 2002;Sperling, 1997). Surprisingly, little has been written about parental participation and the role of parents during the termination phase.…”

“…Therapists working dynamically with child and adolescent patients are often acutely aware of aspects of the parents' unconscious, including jealousy, envy, competition, idealization, and potential guilt related to needing to seek treatment for their child, which may affect the psychotherapy and alliance. Therefore, most psychodynamic psychotherapists will maintain regular contact with their patient's parents over the course of treatment so as to: (1) monitor treatment, (2) remain appraised of changes in the parental relationship, and (3) understand the parents' reactions to the changes that occur in the adolescent as a result of the psychotherapy (Sperling, 1997). Importantly, this regular contact allows the parents to support the treatment and the therapist to support the parents, particularly during challenging times (Sperling, 1979).…”

The Supporting Alliance in Child and Adolescent Treatment: Enhancing Collaboration Among Therapists, Parents, and Teachers

“…Research on the parent-therapist relationship either examines the general nature of that relationship (Sperling, 1979(Sperling, , 1997Alexander & Dore, 1999;DeVet, et al, 2003;Johnson, et al, 1994;DeChillo, et al, 1994;Nevas & Farber, 2001;Hawley & Weisz, 2005;Kazdin, et al, 1997) or focuses more narrowly on particular aspects of the relationship that are thought to foster therapeutic engagement. The second category of research encompasses studies of parental cognition and attributions (Morrissey-Kane & Prinz, 1999), informed consent (Krener & Mancina, 1994;Towbin, 1995), and the meaning of psychotropic medications to patients and families (Schowalter 1989;Rappoport & Chubinsky 2000;Mintz, 2002;Pruett & Martin, 2003;Joshi, 2006).…”