For more than 150 years, empowering practices have been used by social workers in their work with families, but the techniques of today differ significantly from those of the pioneers or even from those of a few years ago. Today's practitioners recognize that empowering others is impossible; social workers can, however, assist others as they empower themselves. This book integrates time-honored approaches with today's more modest goals, mindful of what empowerment can and cannot do. Synthesizing several theoretical supports—the strengths perspective, system theory, theories of family well-being, and theories of coping—the author responds to the question "What works?" with today's families in need. Practice illustrations are provided throughout to bring concepts to life and, more important, to present families describing their own experiences with achieving empowerment.
This book integrates time-honored approaches to empowerment practice with today's more modest goals, mindful of what empowerment can and cannot do. Synthesizing several theoretical supports--the strengths perspective, system theory, theories of family well-being, and theories of coping--the author responds to the question "What works?" with today's families in need. Practice illustrations are provided throughout.
Internationally recognized as the gold standard in providing services to children with special needs and their family members, family-centred practice has developed substantially over the past two decades. However, there has not been until now a basic practice text for guiding professional education and skill building across diverse areas. Filling this significant gap, Partnering with Parents is a primer on family-centred practice for professionals working in children's health and developmental services. The material in this textbook spans interdisciplinary training across key child service sectors (particularly child development, child mental health, and children's health). The authors identify and discuss the key principles of the model as it is practiced in Canada, with a focus on working alliances, empowerment methods, and the development of social support resources. Providing examples of the application of family-centred practice in a wide range of service settings, Partnering with Parents will be useful for the social workers, nurses, psychologists, and allied health professionals who work together in complex service situations.
Whether it's physical, psychological, social, historical, or ongoing, trauma is a universal experience, and this book provides professionals with the approaches necessary for successful and empowering interventions across the trauma spectrum. Part one examines the steps individuals take to heal their traumas. Nicolas survives an attack by his own dog; Tay rebuilds her life after years of incest; Claire speaks out about being molested by a program participant at her mental health clinic; and Erma copes with the shattering memories of childhood abuse. Part two focuses on interpersonal dynamics. Frank is held accountable for his violence toward his wife; Erin and her mother confront the reality of bullying and victimization in schools; Beth faces discrimination because of her sexual orientation; and staff members at a transitional housing shelter deal with the death of a client. Part three recounts stories of resilience and healing at the social and community level. Salome and her family process the historical trauma of the massacre of her American Indian ancestors. A group of boys who became fatherless after 9/11 respond to experiential ways of coping with their grief. Jennifer and Kim live daily with the social trauma of poverty. Three Liberian families survive torture, flight, refugee camps, and resettlement. Amory struggles to find meaning and move on from his experience as a combat veteran, and the story of Angelina Batiste epitomizes the loss and resilience of those who lived through Hurricane Katrina. Trauma Transformed provides insight into the psychological and spiritual resources practitioners need to help victims move forward and improve upon their circumstances. Readers will also learn to strengthen their sense of self to prevent secondary trauma.
This text will provide a comprehensive overview of traditional and evolving theoretical models of family therapy and intervention techniques. The objective of this text is to enable a student to gain beginning proficiency as a family therapist along with understanding the impact of a client's race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender issues, age, socioeconomic status, disability, and differences from the “traditional” family on family assessment and intervention. The book has six goals, as follows: (1) acquaint students with the theoretical underpinnings of various approaches to assessing and intervening with families (2) assist students in understanding the similarities, differences and strategies of change among the major models of family therapy (3) introduce the student to the current available research on the effectiveness of different approaches to family intervention (4) help students assess family functioning from a life cycle perspective and make a valid plan, taking into account client's race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender issues, age, socioeconomic status, disability, and differences from the “traditional” family (5) help students develop techniques and strategies related to stages of the intervention in family therapy (6) enable the student to critique the appropriateness of the theoretical models and its intervention techniques according to family developmental factors as well as the particular needs of the family. Features: (1) Comprehensive coverage of familty therapy theory and research 2) Presentation of clinical process issues unique to family therapy (3) Inclusion of family live cycle and developement issues and the impact on family assessment and treatment planning (4) Interventions in diverse family structures (5) Interventions with special family issues such as substance abuse, domestic violence and poverty (6) An emphasis throughout on helping students to develop beginning competencies in family therapy practice (7) Numerous case examples
Surviving Domestic Abuse examines how formal and informal supports and services can mitigate the damaging, and sometimes fatal, social cost of domestic violence. The book highlights victims’ perceptions of supports and lays a foundation for professionals and family members to effectively assist victims of domestic abuse. The book offers actionable recommendations and multiple-use cases to fill gaps in the understanding of the complexities that exist in domestic violence dynamics. Dr Finneran uses real-life interviews with victims to inform action and intervention for policy, strategy and decision-making for support and service providers including law enforcement, healthcare, social services and employers. Identification of successful supports and services can assist in preventing victims from returning to their abusive relationships, and the author provides real-life examples and a sounding board for the voices of real women who have endured domestic abuse. Spanning the gulf between research and practice, this is the ideal book for a range of professional communities including psychologists, social workers and healthcare professionals, and victims and survivors themselves. It’s also suitable for academics and researchers, and students taking domestic violence treatment and prevention courses.
A trusted course text and professional resource, this comprehensive book delves into all aspects of planning and conducting strengths-based group work with adolescents. In an accessible, down-to-earth style, Andrew Malekoff spells out the principles of effective group practice. Extensive clinical illustrations show how successful group leaders engage teens in addressing tough issues--including violence, sexuality, prejudice, social isolation, and substance abuse--in a wide range of settings. Normative issues that adolescents face in the multiple contexts of their lives are lucidly explained. Packed with creative ideas and activities, the book helps readers develop their skills as confident, reflective practitioners. New to This Edition *Significantly revised chapters on group work essentials, school-based practice, and trauma. *Additional topics: social media and cyberbullying, expressive and animal-assisted therapies, mindfulness, adolescent brain development, and more. *Updated practice principles, information, and references. *Numerous new practice illustrations.
Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.
