Building Creative Therapeutic Relationships with Children and Young People

This textbook elucidates core systemic ideas, methods and skills which are useful and effective in building creative therapeutic relationships with children and young people in family/systemic therapy and practice. The aim of the book is to invite practitioners and therapists working with this client population to extend their “repertoire” of skills and ideas towards better therapeutic outcomes. This book outlines key elements to help practitioners find useful, effective means to meet, engage and help children and their families, alongside illustrating a range of skills through vignettes and in-depth case studies to highlight creative possibilities underpinned by a clear conceptual framework. It also offers a condensed and accessible insight into what contributes to creative practice in meeting children and young people. This approach allows a degree of spontaneity in practice, centering therapy as a process of humanisation. The book also provides a detailed exploration of the practitioner’s style of work, ethics and an examination of the social, organisational and political aspects of the contexts of practice. Jim Wilson is an independent consultant, trainer, and author from the UK. He has been the Chairperson of the Family Institute in Cardiff and former Director of The Centre for Child studies at The Institute of Family Therapy ,London. His books and writings are widely used in training courses in family therapy both in the UK and worldwide.