Narrative Therapies with Children and Adolescents

Bridging a gap between family and play therapy, this book explores a wide range of narrative therapy approaches that respect parents' concerns while also giving voice to the distinctive wisdom and abilities of diverse children and adolescents. Case studies of challenging clinical situations supply practical examples of how to work with problems including sexual abuse, depression, learning disabilities, substance misuse, and alienation from school. Chapters conclude with engaging dialogue between the editors and the contributors that further draws out the principles and techniques of each approach.

This wide-ranging book features postmodern ideas and innovative interviewing methods....The working contexts range from schools, playrooms, offices, and clinics to family homes and group homes. The book is simply full of creative variations in narrative practice! But other methods like the use of drama, art, home support, and the collaborative language systems approach are also included. A gratifying theme throughout is the consistent commitment to honoring and respecting the actual experiences of the young people with whom we work. --Karl Tomm, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Calgary In this book readers will find many wonderfully creative expressions of collaborative/narrative approaches to problems experienced in childhood and adolescence. The chapters are framed by a thoughtful and informative introduction that addresses many of the questions that are often asked about the tradition of thought and practice that informs these collaborative/narrative approaches. There is something for everyone in this book. --Michael White, BASW, Dulwich Centre, Adelaide, South AustraliaSmith and Nylund have compiled a collection of hopeful, exciting approaches to working with children that is as diverse as the problems that children and their families bring to therapy. Each chapter is unique, but the approaches are joined together by the spirit of possibility, respect, and collaboration that suffuses them all. --Bill O'Hanlon, MS - Chock-full of inventive examples of clinical work....[This book] is ground-breaking in being the first narratively informed collection to focus on countering problems that capture adolescentsanorexia, depression, substance misuse and attentional differences among themand should stand as a landmark contribution in the years to come. --Readings, 3/17/2000

Craig Smith, PhD, is a Marriage, Family, and Child Counselor in private practice at the Solana Beach Counseling Center in San Diego, California. He also teaches at San Diego State University and supervises at various local agencies, in addition to co-leading trainings in dialogic narrative therapy. David K. Nylund, MSW, is a clinical social worker at Kaiser Permanente in Stockton, California. He is also a consultant to Midtown Family Therapy, where he offers training in narrative therapy, and a lecturer at the Professional School of Psychology in Sacramento.