Techniques of Child Therapy: Psychodynamic Strategies

by Morton Chethik MSW

Overview

This practical text offers an in-depth examination of major issues in child psychotherapy and highlights frequently encountered challenges in working with children and parents. Basic concepts of adult dynamic psychotherapy—such as the therapeutic alliance, resistance, transference and countertransference, and insight—are redefined and adapted to the special requirements of therapy with 4- to 12-year-olds. Readers are guided through a number of cases as treatment unfolds, gaining insight into all of the attendant problems, strategies, and opportunities. Yielding unique insights into the emotional and cognitive world of the child, the volume presents effective treatment strategies for a wide range of clinical problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572309258
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	06/18/2003
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	307
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Morton Chethik, MSW, is an emeritus professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. He is Director of the Child Psychotherapy Program at the Michigan Psychoanalytic Society and continues his private practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A current area of his writing focuses on the special perspective that child therapy provides for understanding work with adult patients.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction to Child Therapy
1. General Characteristics of the Child Patient
2. The Process of Assessment and Its Role in the Treatment Process
3. The Central Role of Play
II. Work with Parents
4. Parent Guidance and Transference Parenting
5. Treatment of the Parent—Child Relationship
III. The Process of Treatment: The Fundamentals
6. Treatment of the Neurotic Child
7. Treatment of Character Pathology
8. Treatment of the Borderline Child
9. Treatment of the Narcissistically Disturbed Child
10. Focal Psychotherapy
IV. The Process of Treatment: An Elaboration
11. The Case of Andy
12. The Case of Margaret

Interviews

Child psychotherapists and social workers; trainees in a range of mental health disciplines. Serves as a text in graduate-level courses in clinical psychology, social work, and psychiatry, and in psychoanalytic training programs.

Editorial Reviews

"Chethik has done it again! His new second edition is a fitting extension of the first. This gifted child therapist presents the basic concepts of child therapy and elaborates a detailed account of the clinical process with children and parents. Lengthy and rich case presentations include the therapist's reflections, informing the reader about the clinician's feelings, hunches, and countertransference responses. This rare account of the essence of therapy makes this text a 'must' for all practitioners dealing with children, be they student social workers, child fellows, psychology interns, or more advanced practitioners."—Judith Mishne, DSW, Ehrenkranz School of Social Work, New York University

"This book will be welcomed by teachers and students of child psychotherapy, both in graduate training programs and in the extension courses offered by many institutes. Chethik describes what goes into careful biopsychosocial assessment of presenting problems, and clarifies the ways in which treatment subsequently draws on that diagnostic frame. Not only does this author offer unusually rich details about beginnings, middles, and endings in play therapy with children, but he also includes the collateral and often less emphasized work with their parents at these different stages."—Jean Sanville, PhD, Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies; author of The Playground of Psychoanalytic Therapy

"In an age when child treatment often consists of an expedient pharmacological 'cure,' Morton Chethik's newly revised Techniques of Child Therapy is a breath of fresh air. The merits of Chethik's dynamic approach are many, including the significance he imputes to thorough diagnostic evaluation and his emphasis on the importance of the parental alliance. Also noteworthy are the book's detailed presentations of treatment process and its discussion of more challenging cases involving severe character pathology. Wise and compassionate, this book serves as a model for the practice of dynamic child psychotherapy. It can be recommended unreservedly to novice and more experienced clinicians alike, be they social workers, clinical psychologists, or child psychiatrists."—Jerrold R. Brandell, PhD, BCD, author of Of Mice and Metaphors; Founding Editor, Psychoanalytic Social Work

From the Publisher

Offers an in-depth examination of major issues in child psychotherapy and highlights challenges frequently encountered in the course of working with children and parents. Redefines and adapts basic concepts of adult dynamic psychotherapy to requirements of therapy with children, using detailed case histories to yield insights on the emotional and cognitive world of the child. This second edition contains new material on the central role of play in child development and treatment. Chethik is emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, and director of the Child Psychotherapy Program at the Michigan Psychoanalytic Society. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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