Palgrave Texts in Counselling and Psychotherapy

This book explores the various applications of systemic understanding in practice. Each chapter covers diverse working contexts and existential life dilemmas, tackling subjects such as: systemic work with individuals, single session family therapy, experiences of adult longing, the therapeutic relationship as a form of love, working systemically with experiences of marginalisation, cultural difference and diversity, the integration of recent neuroscience developments with systemic therapy with couples, the role of forgiveness and the spiritual dimension in therapy.

This open access book illustrates how systemic theory, as both a meta-theory and a relational organic theory, can be a suitable framework for understanding and appreciating the new horizons of systemic practice with children and families in their various contexts. The different chapters shed light on how systemic perspectives, as they are presented in their varying contexts, promote hope by giving room for reflections on uncertainty, change, opportunities, interconnections, and differences. The authors describe and reflect on how systemic approaches can be useful for practitioners and make space for a multiplicity of different perspectives that address the needs of children and those assisting them in their various settings, where children grow and develop in the context of their unique needs and challenges. It covers safeguarding children’s rights through parental separation and divorce; families experiencing anticipatory grief; parents struggling with substanceuse problems; gender incongruence; eating disorders; systemic perspectives on psychiatric diagnosis; children with disabilities; and systemic practice in school. The book will be a source of inspiration, as the purpose is to illustrate the systemic field in constant motion, which encourages, maybe even requires a plurality of theories, perspectives and approaches. But, most importantly,  it demonstrates how working with children and families is a privilege.

This handbook provides an accessible and thought-provoking guide to the Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC), a tool for understanding family relationships. It is edited and written by the MotC’s developer, with contributions from leading researchers and practitioners using the MotC in innovative contexts to support families. The MotC uses a semi-structured interview in which parents talk about their child, their relationship with their child, and their parenting. A process of analysis is outlined, including using the method to plan intervention, guide practice, and conduct research. This book offers a practical guide to applying attachment and caregiving research for child welfare and mental health professionals. Prior knowledge is not assumed, and many examples and summaries are used to assist the reader. By focussing upon how parents story their experience, and their child’s, in the context of ongoing challenges, this book facilitates practice based on understanding struggling parenting as a relationship situated in adversity, rather than an individual failing, worthy of blame.