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Family Treatment

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Handbook of Child Psychopathology

Abstract

The title of this chapter highlights a contentious issue in the management of psychological disorders of childhood: the question of whether it is the child referred to a Child and Family Clinic, the parents, or the whole family, to whom the intervention should be directed. The options might include the child (seen alone), the parent(s) (seen alone), the parents and child (seen together), or the members of the family attending as a unit. Proponents of psychodynamic theories are likely to give priority to an exploration of the child’s inner life, in the form of individual psychotherapy. Behavior therapists might also opt for focused individual work on, say, a child’s phobic fears. Those who still uphold the long-lived aphorism “there are no problem children, only problem parents” (a myth that refuses to die!) would tend to inculpate parents as most in need of remediation by counseling or training. The skills deficit model (which informs some behavioral parent training programs) is sometimes at risk of giving credence to this oversim plification. Systems theorists (e.g., family therapists) would look askance at any therapeutic approach that failed to consider, as a priority, the dynamic interactions of the child’s family reified as a system that, as a whole, is “larger than the sum of its parts.” Then again, several domains might be targeted for change and incorporated into a multirnodel/multilevel program of treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, England

    Martin Herbert

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  1. Martin Herbert
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

    Thomas H. Ollendick

  2. School of Professional Psychology, Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, USA

    Michel Hersen

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Herbert, M. (1998). Family Treatment. In: Ollendick, T.H., Hersen, M. (eds) Handbook of Child Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5905-4_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5905-4_23

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