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Playful Approaches to Serious Problems.

Year: 2005
Type: book-review
Abstract: This book proved to be an interesting read. The stories of the children tackling their various problems offer a refreshing view into the mind of the children involved as well as the thoughts of the family. The solutions to these problems were also a breath of fresh air with a lack of psychobabble and massive terms that made the book an easy enough read for parents to tackle it easily. The topics ranged from temper problems to eating disorders to cutting and all are written in an informed way. The main focus of the book is using a family’s resources to solve a particular problem rather than relying on multiple therapy sessions and medication. This way, the family can bring their solutions home, in turn, more efficiently tacking the particular problem. By using the narrative therapy approach, the problem is externalized and is a separate entity from the child. Playful, yet descriptive, names are given to the problem such as “The Temper”, “The Grumpies”, “The Itch”, “Sneaky Poo”, etcetera which provides a way for children and adults alike to see that the child is not the cause of the problem. By separate problem and child, the therapist encourages the child to find ways to overcome the problem. Ways for the child to tackle the problem may be to “spy” on it, or make a game out of defeating it. Freeman, Epston, and Lobovits all contribute their own stories of patients to this book. Some of the therapy techniques may seem questionable at times (e.g. Epston’s excessive use of letters to patients could be seen as questionable), however, through this playfulness and humor successes are made. The stories of the children bring a particular charm to the quality of the book. Their own ideas about what is affecting them offer much more insight than one might realize. The book speaks wonderfully through the children and families. This allows the reader to see that problem solving is not a solid process; it is a creative process that demands imagination, originality and of, course, the enthusiastic co-operation of the child. The success of this narrative therapy, in my opinion, lies in the ability to define a complex problem in simple and creative ways. This, in turn, allows children to see the problem outside themselves and understand how it affects those around them - while keeping the blame factor out. Also, it gives parents and caretakers the information they need, hence they do not get caught up in relative terms that mean nothing to them. This approach seems to provide parents and children with a way to talk about the problem without using disturbing terms like “disease” and “disorder”. It is as if the problem itself becomes an accepted member of the family that attends therapy as well. At times, it may seem a little unconventional - however, the key to this type of therapy is to keep the seriousness of the situation out of focus and bring creativity in as the main problem solver. It almost seems to make solving problems fun to the child as well as to their families, no doubt bringing the family as a whole closer together. For the sake of criticism, some question should be brought to some of these approaches in that not all patients may react the same way as the successes of this book. Also, this book showed no record of failure involving the therapy, which surely there must have been at some point. There is no mention of complications or barriers once therapy has begun and the problem established. There was nothing about relapses or perhaps side effects contained in the book as well. There are, however, words of caution (e.g. using the manifestation of a “monster” to explain a problem), leading one to believe things did not go as smoothly as the account in the book. Regardless, the book itself was written in a stimulating and enchanting style. Children of all ages are included in the book as well as different types of parents and caretakers. It explored a wide variety of troubles found in children and families and offered refreshing ways to deal with them in light of many different situations. The way in which the book is presented provides many helpful ways to understand the psyche of the children and the dynamics of children within the family system. The book is recommended as an easy enjoyable introduction to the narrative therapy method with children and families but the lack of information about evaluation, difficulties or cautions about inappropriate use means there is much more to be learned about this topic for the future.
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W165843721
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Cited by: 75
Related to: 10