Practitioners today are confronted by a bewildering array of therapies as 'cure alls.' This book provides an integrated approach to working with children, parents and families that can be applied by all professionals in a variety of settings. Informed by a psychodynamic perspective, it identifies how we can avoid pathologising the behaviour of children by instead considering:

• the meaning of behaviour as an important source of communication
• the commonality of all experience for children, parents and families
• the emotional milestones of development
• the core principles of assessment and therapeutic communication and how they are applied

Through the presentation of sound clinical evidence and research Core Principles of Assessment and Therapeutic Communication with Children, Parents and Families creates connections between clinical practice and community action and, as such, is essential reading for anyone working to promote child and family wellbeing.

About the Author

Ruth Schmidt Neven is a child psychotherapist, psychologist and researcher. She trained at the Tavistock Clinic in London and has worked with children, parents and families over four decades in the United Kingdom and Australia. She writes and lectures extensively on all aspects of child and family development and is currently director of the Centre for Child and Family Development in Melbourne.

Reviews

"This is a book that above all is subversive in its intent, but subversive in the most healthy and creative meaning of the term. It contains clinically sound convictions, but also an impassioned social and political awareness about how psychoanalytic thinking can function as a refuge in mental health services and as a resource to combat the dominant and depersonalising culture which so undermines attention to complexity... undoubtedly this book is an important resource for professionals who are inundated with information and guidelines, which run counter to their natural inclinations, to listen to the often inter-generational story their clients bring to the consulting room." - Joan Herrmann, Journal of Child Psychotherapy, Vol. 37, Iss. 1, 2011

"Using her experience as a psychologist and psychotherapist1 Schmidt Neven has written a book that provides guidance for those working with children on how to place children's behaviour within a social and relational context in order to 'hear' what that behaviour may be communicating. By seeking to do this Schmidt Neven argues that ' professionals are acting as powerful advocates for the rights of children... Schmidt Neven's book... provokes us to think what lies behind behaviours, to wonder and be curious and thereby develop practices that promote children's mental health and wellbeing." - Anne Farrelly, International Journal of Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood, Vol 9, No 1, 2011

"This is a book that above all is subversive in its intent, but subversive in the most healthy and creative meaning of the term. It contains clinically sound convictions, but also an impassioned social and political awareness about how psychoanalytic thinking can function as a refuge in mental health services and as a resource to combat the dominant and depersonalising culture which so undermines attention to complexity... undoubtedly this book is an important resource for professionals who are inundated with information and guidelines, which run counter to their natural inclinations, to listen to the often inter-generational story their clients bring to the consulting room." - Joan Herrmann, Journal of Child Psychotherapy, Vol. 37, Iss. 1, 2011

"Using her experience as a psychologist and psychotherapist1 Schmidt Neven has written a book that provides guidance for those working with children on how to place children's behaviour within a social and relational context in order to 'hear' what that behaviour may be communicating. By seeking to do this Schmidt Neven argues that ' professionals are acting as powerful advocates for the rights of children... Schmidt Neven's book... provokes us to think what lies behind behaviours, to wonder and be curious and thereby develop practices that promote children's mental health and wellbeing." - Anne Farrelly, International Journal of Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood, Vol 9, No 1, 2011

"This is an excellent and sometimes complex book, which is impressive in its range and depth but remains accessible to a reader without detailed priorknowledge of psychoanalytic or attachment theory... It is refreshing to read something which so passionately and knowledgeably advocates the need for professionals to think alongside their clients, trying to understand the presenting difficulties in the context of individual child development, intergencrational fam ily relationships and environmental factors." - Nerys Hughes, Seen and Heard, Volume 22, 2012

Book Information
ISBN 9780415552431
Author Ruth Schmidt Neven
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 300g