1st Edition

Therapeutic Assessment and Intervention in Childcare Legal Proceedings Engaging families in successful rehabilitation

By Mike Davies Copyright 2016
    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    182 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book draws upon the author’s first-hand clinical experience as an Expert Witness in child and family legal proceedings to explore the success of psychotherapy assessments and interventions. Focusing on families who are seeking to be re-united after the removal of their children into foster care, Mike Davies discusses critical aspects of therapy which can help to identify and engage those who will benefit from additional support.

    Chapters combine heuristic, case studies, and narrative research methodologies, considering parents’ stories, self-identity issues and assessment criteria, to uncover an emerging framework that illuminates an innovative therapeutic approach. Divided into three parts, the book develops a comprehensive overview of and thorough investigation into therapeutic assessment during childcare legal proceedings, including explorations into crucial issues such as how and why some families are granted therapeutic intervention, as well as the level of understanding and expertise that professionals and local services can provide in these contexts.

    Therapeutic Assessment and Intervention in Childcare Legal Proceedings will be of key reading for researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of child and adolescent mental health, law, social work and psychotherapy. The book will also be of interest to social workers, expert psychologists, psychotherapists, family therapists, psychiatrists, and those specialising in public law.

    Part 1: Background  Expert Witness or Psychotherapist: A Personal Development Account.  Context and Review of the Key Issues: Parents, Parenting and Child Protection in a Risk-aversive Culture.  Research Questions, Method, and Emerging Themes: A Reflexive Journey  Part 2: Families on the Edge  Five Case Studies: Examples of engagement in therapy and successful rehabilitation  Part 3: Findings and Discussion  A Working Framework: ‘No Chance, Some Chance, Every Chance’ of Engagement in Therapy and Successful Rehabilitation.  Influence of Legal/Professional Context on Parental and Professional Activity.  Critical Aspects of Therapy: The Who, How, and Where, of Creating a Therapeutic Context.  Multi-dimensional Therapeutic Work.  Conclusions.

    Biography

    Mike Davies is a Consultant Psychotherapist working in the UK, with expertise in child and family therapy and mental health.