Narrative Therapies with Children and Their Families: A Practitioner’s Guide to Concepts and Approaches

339 Pages·2016·4.43 MB·English

by  Arlene Vetere

Narrative Therapies with
Children and Their Families
Narrative Therapies with Children and Their Families introduces and develops
the principles of narrative approaches to systemic therapeutic work, and shows
how they can provide a powerful framework for engaging troubled children and
their families. Written by eminent and leading clinicians, known nationally and
internationally for their research and theory development in the field of child
and family mental health, the book covers a broad range of difficult and sensitive
topics, including trauma, abuse and youth offending. It illustrates the wide appli-
cation of these principles in the context of the particular issues and challenges
presented when working with children and families.
Since publication of the first edition, the importance of narrative therapy has
continued to grow, and this new edition provides an updated and revised overview
of the field, along with three new chapters to keep apace with developments in
child mental health trauma work. This book remains a key text in the field of sys-
temic narrative training and practice.
With clinical examples throughout, this practical book will be welcomed by
family and systemic therapists and other professionals in the field of child, ado-
lescent and family mental health.
Arlene Vetere is a professor of family therapy and systemic practice at VID
Specialized University, Oslo, Norway, and an affiliate professor in the Depart-
ment of Family Studies, University of Malta. She was formerly a professor of
clinical psychology at Surrey University.
Emilia Dowling is a chartered clinical psychologist and systemic family psy-
chotherapist. She worked at the Tavistock Clinic for many years, where she was
head of Child Psychology and was involved in postgraduate training, practice and
research. She currently works in private practice, is a member of the Institute of
Family Therapy and has been published widely.
‘In the ten plus years since the first edition of this book, much has changed in the
landscape of narrative practice in working with children. Fortunately for us, the
book has more than kept pace with these changes. The second edition integrates
the most recent research and practise ideas that have emerged over the decade as
well as introducing us to emergent issues. The new chapters include: “working in
early intervention settings such as school and other frontline agencies”; “children
who have become refugees”; and “families living in a context of civil conflict”.
These new chapters caught my attention and I believe they add a great deal to our
work with children and families.’
– D. Russell Crane, PhD, Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy,
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
‘Narrative Therapies with Children and Their Families (Second Edition) is an
essential read for anyone working with children and families. Securely rooted
in the rich traditions of family therapy, narrative psychology and psychoanaly-
sis, this book is an essential resource for students and practitioners in the mental
health field, as well as in school systems.
Contributors – leading experts from different backgrounds – address important
issues like attachment, depression, trauma and violence, focusing on the inspira-
tion and insights a narrative based approach can offer. The focus is not only on
giving the child a voice so that he/she can tell his/her story in words, in play, in
drawings; but also on listening to the child’s voice and integrating it in the story
of the parents, the family, the school, the therapy.
This is an important book that can serve as a clinical guide to therapy and coun-
selling with children and their families. It is likely to become a classic in the field.’
– Peter Rober, Context UPC KU Leuven, Belgium
‘This book is a treasure trove of ideas for therapeutic practice with children and
their families. It shows the breadth and strength of narrative as a major cohering
metaphor in contemporary family therapy. Different chapters cross the borders
of systemic psychotherapy, psychoanalytic thinking, attachment theory and resil-
ience research, as senior practitioners apply narrative ideas to particular family
issues and contexts of practice. The book makes for an enriching read for experi-
enced therapists, and charts creative practice possibilities for training practitioners
in family therapy, psychology, social work, psychiatry and child psychotherapy.’
– Carmel Flaskas, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of
Social Sciences, UNSW Australia
Narrative Therapies with
Children and Their Families
A practitioner’s guide to
concepts and approaches
Second Edition
Edited by Arlene Vetere
and Emilia Dowling
Second edition published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 selection and editorial matter, Arlene Vetere and Emilia
Dowling; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2005
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Vetere, Arlene, editor. | Dowling, Emilia, 1941– editor.
Title: Narrative therapies with children and their families :
a practitioner’s guide to concepts and approaches / edited by
Arlene Vetere and Emilia Dowling.
Description: Second edition. | Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ;
New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016005956 | ISBN 9781138890992 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781138891005 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315687063 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Narrative therapy.
Classification: LCC RJ505.S75 N375 2017 | DDC 616.89/165—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016005956
ISBN: 978-1-138-89099-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-89100-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68706-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Author biographies viii
Foreword by Charlotte Burck xiii
Editors’ introduction to the second edition xv
PART I
Narrative concepts and therapeutic challenges 1
1 Narrative concepts and therapeutic challenges 3
EMILIA DOWLING AND ARLENE VETERE
PART II
Narratives of childhood 25
2 Narratives and phantasies 27
MARGARET RUSTIN AND MICHAEL RUSTIN
3 Narrative perspectives on childhood depression 45
DAVID CAMPBELL AND JUDITH TROWELL
4 Children’s narratives of traumatic experiences 61
GERRILYN SMITH
5 Children who witness violence at home 75
ARLENE VETERE AND JAN COOPER
6 Engaging children and young people: a theatre of possibilities 91
JIM WILSON
vi Contents
PART III
Narratives of working with families 113
7 Narratives of fathers and sons: ‘there is no such
thing as a father’ 115
SEBASTIAN KRAEMER
8 The changing context of permanency: unifying stories
in the context of divided loyalties 133
SARA BARRATT AND RITA HARRIS
9 Second-phase parenting: narratives of parenting when
children become adults 147
MYRNA Z. GOWER AND EMILIA DOWLING
PART IV
Narratives in special contexts 163
10 Whose story is it anyway? Children involved in
contact disputes 167
KIRSTEN BLOW AND GWYN DANIEL
11 Narratives of attachment and processes of alienation in
post-divorce parenting disputes 182
GILL GORELL BARNES
12 Narratives of young offenders 198
RUDI DALLOS
13 Narratives of school exclusion 220
SUE RENDALL
14 A whole systems model of early intervention with
schools and other frontline partner agencies:
a systems relations approach 235
MARC VAN ROOSMALEN
15 Crossing frontiers: narrative approaches with refugee
children and young people 253
PAUL TIBBLES
Contents vii
16 Working with traumatised families in a context
of civil conflict: shared narratives 271
ARLENE HEALEY
17 Narratives of hope 289
ALAN CARR
Index 313
Author biographies
Arlene Vetere, FBPsS, FAcSS, is a professor of family therapy and systemic
practice at VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway. She is a clinical psy-
chologist registered with the UK HCPC and a systemic psychotherapist and
systemic supervisor registered with the UKCP, UK. For the past 20 years she
has co-directed an independent family violence intervention project with Jan
Cooper.
Emilia Dowling is a chartered clinical psychologist and systemic family psycho-
therapist who worked at the Tavistock Clinic for many years, where she was
head of Child Psychology and was involved in postgraduate training, prac-
tice and research. Her interests include systemic consultation with families,
schools and general practice, and she has many years of experience of work-
ing with families during and after separation and divorce. In all areas of her
work she is particularly interested in the children’s perspective. She currently
works in private practice, and is a member of the Institute of Family Therapy.
She has published widely and co-edited with the late Elsie Osborne The Fam-
ily and the School – A Joint Systems Approach to Problems with Children
(Routledge, 1985, 2nd ed., 1994, reprinted by Karnac Books, 2003). She is co-
author with Gill Gorell Barnes of Working with Children and Parents through
Separation and Divorce (Macmillan, 2000), and co-editor, with Arlene Vetere,
of Narrative Therapies with Children and Their Families (Routledge, 2005).
Her most recent book, co-authored with Di Elliott, is Understanding Chil-
dren’s Needs When Parents Separate (Speechmark, 2012).
Sara Barratt is a consultant systemic psychotherapist and social worker who
worked in the Fostering, Adoption and Kinship care team at the Tavistock and
Portman NHS Trust from its inception and subsequently managed the service.
She also teaches on the master’s and the family therapy supervision courses.
Sara has worked for most of her career with children who are looked after,
adopted and in kinship care, and their families. She also works as a psycho-
therapist in general practice and consults to social service teams and individual
practitioners. She co-edited Positions and Polarities in Contemporary Prac-
tice: The legacy of David Campbell with Charlotte Burck and Ellie Kavner and
has contributed to a number of books and papers on systemic psychotherapy,
fostering and adoption and systemic work in general practice.
Author biographies ix
Kirsten Blow was co-director of the Oxford Family Institute. She is an experi-
enced therapist with particular expertise in working with children and families
facing developmental crisis or transition because of family breakdown.
David Campbell was a consultant clinical psychologist in the Child and Family
Department of the Tavistock Clinic, London, where he worked as a systemic/
family therapist and a course organiser, supervisor and teacher for various fam-
ily therapy courses. In addition, he worked as a consultant to teams and small
organisations in the public services. He authored several books on the subject
and co-edited the Systemic Thinking and Practice series of books.
Alan Carr is a professor of clinical psychology and director of the doctoral pro-
gramme in clinical psychology at University College Dublin. He is also a cou-
ple and family therapist at Clanwilliam Institute, Dublin. He has practiced in
Canada, the UK and Ireland. He has written over 20 books and 200 papers and
presentations in the fields of clinical psychology and family therapy. His work
has been translated into a number of languages including Portuguese, Polish,
Korean and Chinese.
Jan Cooper, CQSW, BA, MSc, is a UKCP registered family therapist. She is
co-director of Reading Safer Families with Dr Arlene Vetere. She combines
clinical work, supervision and training in her private practice and is a visiting
lecturer at Reading University.
Rudi Dallos is a professor and programme director of the doctoral program in
clinical psychology at the University of Plymouth. He has specialised in clini-
cal work with children and families and has developed, with Arlene Vetere,
an approach which integrates concepts and clinical techniques from systemic
therapy, attachment theory and narrative therapy (ANT). He has conducted
research and worked clinically with young offenders and developed the ANT
approach to working with them and their families.
Gwyn Daniel is a systemic psychotherapist and supervisor in independent prac-
tice in Oxford and a visiting lecturer at the Tavistock Clinic in London. She is
the author (with Charlotte Burck) of Gender and Family Therapy (1995) and
Mirrors and Reflections: Processes of Systemic Supervision (edited volume,
2010) and (with Gill Gorell Barnes, Paul Thompson and Natasha Burchardt)
Growing Up in Stepfamilies (1998), as well as numerous professional papers.
Gill Gorell Barnes has been working with children and families since the 1960s,
first as a psychiatric social worker and subsequently as a family and couples
therapist within the National Health Service. Her work has mainly been within
the multicultural and changing population of London; at the Tavistock Clinic,
an international psychotherapy training centre, where she lectured, supervised
and researched for 25 years; and at the Institute of Family Therapy, which she
co-founded with colleagues in the 1970s. The nature of her work has always
reflected the changing nature of family life, including divorce, stepfamily
living, single-parent family living and the growth of gay and lesbian family
life. She has written three books on working with families in social change,
and co-authored another five. Currently she is writing a book about working