Filial Therapy
Filial therapy is a closely related form of child centred play therapy whereby the therapist teaches skills and supervises parents as they hold special child-centred play sessions with their own children.This is a collaborative process where parents or carers become partners in the therapeutic process and are empowered to be the primary change agents for their own children .
The techniques are non -directive and child centred.
Parents learn skills in structuring, empathic listening, child centred imaginary play and limit setting .
The intervention is an approach that ideally involves all mebers of a family simultaneously.
It enables a parent to attune to their child and know them on a deep level. They are helped to reflect on the children's play, recognise themes and to gain a deeper understanding of children's thoughts and feelings underlying behaviour. It is an empowering process that over time can be generalised to day to day parenting.
Once the skills and structure have been learnt sessions can be revisited at later stages of the child's devleopment if further difficulties arise
Imagination is more important than knowledge
Albert Einstein