“You will always be your child’s favourite toy” Vicki Lansky
Filial Therapy was first developed by Drs. Bernard and Louise Guerney, USA, in the early 1960s and further developed by Dr. Risë VanFleet and focuses on emphasising the parent-child relationship.
Filial therapy is a play based intervention for meeting the emotional needs of children and building the parent-child relationship. It helps families to resolve or modify issues and behaviour patterns within the family with the emphasis on strengthening relationships and developing within families the skills and tools needed to enjoy a more cohesive family life.
The therapist trains and supports parents as they facilitate special child-centred play sessions with their own children. Thus, the parents are engaged as partners in the therapeutic process and empowered to be the primary change agents in their relationship with their child.
Filial Therapy has at its core the attachment relationship between the parent/carer and child and is particularly useful for families who foster or adopt.
Children looked after in this way are some of our most vulnerable children and are often faced with the difficult and complex psychological consequences of the absence of early loving and secure attachments compounded sometimes by abusive and neglectful treatment.
Filial Therapy facilitates the attachment process but can also be used for a variety of child and family issues.
“If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.” Dr. Haim Ginott