In Group Filial Therapy (GFT), therapists train parents to conduct play sessions with their own children to help meet children's therapeutic needs, and to transfer appropriate skills to family life. Based on parents' application of Child-Centred Play Therapy, taught and supervised by filial therapists, this evidence-based method is highly effective for working with families from diverse backgrounds and locations.
This book provides an accessible guide to the theory and practice of GFT, and for the first time offers step-by-step guidelines for implementing the GFT program developed by Dr Guerney, the co-creator of Filial Therapy. Important practical considerations are addressed by Dr Guerney and Dr Ryan, such as how to determine the composition of groups and the duration of programs, and how to conduct Filial Therapy intakes. The facilitative attitudes and skills needed to be an effective Filial Therapy group leader are also described, and comprehensive instructions for implementing Dr Guerney's 20-week model of GFT are provided. The book closes with examples of how the program may be adapted to meet the needs of special groups.
Replete with examples and dialogues bringing to life the group process, this definitive guide will enable therapists already familiar with the method, as well as those wishing to learn it, to maximise the fulfilment of therapeutic goals for participating families. Practitioners in mental health, social services and counselling, as well as parenting experts, play and filial therapists and therapists in training will find that this book expands and enriches the services they can offer their clients.
Dr Louise Guerney, together with her husband, Dr. Bernard Guerney, Jr., is known as the creator of Filial Therapy. She is Professor Emerita of Human Development and Counselling Psychology at Pennsylvania State University, and former Director of Play and Filial Family Training at the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement (NIRE) in Bethesda, Maryland. She is recognized internationally as one of the most prominent and innovative practitioners of Child-centered Play Therapy. Dr Guerney is a licensed Clinical Psychologist, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor and a founding Board Member of the Association for Play Therapy. She has published extensively on Child Centered Play Therapy and Filial Therapy. She lives in Maryland, USA. Dr Virginia Ryan is a Chartered Child and Adolescent Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a qualified Play Therapist and Play Therapy Supervisor with the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT). In addition to considerable practical experience in a variety of settings, Virginia has pioneered the academic establishment of both Filial Therapy and Non-directive Play Therapy in Britain and Ireland and was the co-founder and Director of the University of York's former Master's program in Non-directive Play Therapy. She lives in Hull, UK.
