It is increasingly understood that to counsel children and adolescents effectively requires specialized skills: simply adapting techniques developed for adults will not work.
Drawing on the work of Bowlbey, Winnicott and others, Linda Hopper here gives a brief introduction to the emotional development of young people and shows how play and other creative means can be used to help them to express their inner feelings. In a comprehensive overview of the area, she also discusses issues of difference and identity, the counselling process and ethical issues in counselling children. The author's wide experience of working with children and adolescents shines through in vivid case studies covering a range of clients, contexts and difficulties.
Offering a judicious balance of theory and practical discussion, Counselling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents focuses on the essential knowledge needed to work therapeutically with children. It is thus an ideal foundation text for students undertaking training in child counselling, either as part of their initial training or in post-qualification professional development.
Linda Hopper is a freelance therapist, supervisor and trainer working in Scotland. She was the founding director of the Sycamore Children's Counselling and Training Centre in Essex.