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Task-focused therapy with children and families
American Journal of Psychotherapy
|January 1, 1980
Summary
Task-focused psychotherapy uses concrete tasks to help children resolve conflicts, engaging parents as allies for lasting change. This approach integrates family dynamics into therapeutic interventions for improved child behavioral and conceptual outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Psychotherapy Research
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Task-focused psychotherapy for children is grounded in Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
- Children's psychological conflicts are often perpetuated by family interactions.
- Existing therapeutic models may not fully integrate parental involvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the task-focused psychotherapy model for children.
- To explain how therapeutic tasks can embody and resolve child conflicts.
- To highlight the role of parental involvement in therapeutic change.
Main Methods:
- Utilizes concrete, task-based therapeutic activities designed to mirror a child's conflict.
- Employs shared experiences between therapist and child to facilitate resolution.
- Integrates parents into the therapeutic process by communicating the child's struggles and their connection to family dynamics.
Main Results:
- Therapeutic tasks provide a tangible medium for exploring and resolving children's conflicts.
- The model facilitates a new behavioral and/or conceptual resolution for the child.
- Enhanced parental understanding of their child's issues promotes their role as allies in change.
Conclusions:
- Task-focused psychotherapy offers an effective model for addressing children's psychological conflicts.
- Engaging parents as allies is crucial for sustaining therapeutic gains.
- This approach helps reframe family dynamics to support the child's resolution.