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Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry
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Solution-focused Brief Therapy with Families Who Have a Child with Intellectual Disabilities: A Description of the Content of Initial Sessions and the Processes

Helen Lloyd

Scott Hospital, Plymouth, UK

Rudi Dallos

University of Plymouth, UK

Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is used in a range of child services but little is known about its application to families who have a child with severe or profound intellectual disabilities. This qualitative study examines SFBT with seven such families. It considers the content of sessions and the processes that occur from the practitioner's perspective. Participants' experiences are reported elsewhere (Lloyd & Dallos, submitted). A thematic analysis of seven initial sessions indicated that SFBT highlighted parents' competencies, goals and achievements. The ‘miracle question’ prompted a change in rapport, discussion about the impossibility of the child becoming ‘normal’ and a shift away from wishful thinking towards problem solving. In sessions processes emerged of empowerment, integration of the goals into the mothers' life narrative, understanding the child's abilities and clarification of the preferred future. These themes resonated with the literature on effective coping styles for these families. The cases suggest that SFBT can generate a useful parent–professional partnership. However, difficulties were encountered when a child with autism participated in the session. Consideration is given to the ‘miracle question’ and the inclusion of measures of self-efficacy, coping and the therapeutic relationship.

Key Words: children • intellectual disability • parents • solution-focused therapy

Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 11, No. 3, 367-386 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1359104506064982
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