[Where are the children in family counseling? Results of an explorative study]

Since the late seventies the family setting has become a normal model in counseling, not least because of the systemic change in psychotherapy. The lack of methodologically well-founded considerations on how to involve the children in the family talk is therefore even more surprising. In the present study 40 counselors were interviewed how they propose to fill the special gap in their practical work, what strategies they have developed to involve children and how important for them children are in the family talk. The result was that the majority of the counselors are adult oriented in their activities and rarely include the children actively in the interactive proceedings. Nevertheless all those interviewed regarded their presence as necessary because they provide helpful diagnostic assistance in uncovering and recognizing parental problems and relational conflicts.