THE BULLIES
Dennis Lines
Published by Jessica Kingsley ISBN 978-1843105787
Anything written by Dennis Lines will attract my attention on account of his honesty, his thoroughness and his clear presentation. This particular book leaps off the page in another way – the peer counsellors at his school have enacted scenes of bullying which have been photographed to bring the discussion to life. The text is further laid out with diagrams, charts, boxed case studies, transcripts and bullet lists within the sections. What more could I want to entice me to read?
He ranges wide, too. The chapters are: What is bullying?, Bullying in nature, The nature-nurture influence on behaviour, Who bullies?, Interpreting bullying behaviour; Bullying in school, Domestic violence and bullying partners, Bullying of children and young people, Bullying in the workplace, and A better way forward.
Lines has years of experience in a large secondary school in Birmingham and his work is based on listening to bullies and their stories and backgrounds. The book is also bang up to date in its references to other research and texts. If you decide to read it, let us know what you think. How useful is it to you?
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THE PERFORMANCE OF PRACTICE
Jim Wilson
Published by Karnac Books ISBN 978-1855755260
The idea of there being a ‘performance’ involved in practice is an intriguing one – it’s about using every aspect of our being when communicating with clients/families. This is family therapy, but there is so much that inspires individual work too. The book is full of actual case material and commentary on it to show how the theory evolved and works in practice.
The material includes the emergence of systemic focused drama, stories and their performance, and the therapist and the performance of practice.
That’s the gist – there is much more. I love the final chapter: ‘Six scales for reflection on practice’. Wilson’s humility in sharing his shortcomings and his self-deprecating humour that suffuses the book make it an enjoyable read but also a really informative one.
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COUNSELLING PEOPLE ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM
Katherine Paxton and Irene Estay
Published by Jessica Kingsley ISBN 978-1843105466
Subtitled “a practical manual”, this book really does offer practical insights and strategies for working with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). It is a CBT approach in essence, as this is proven to be most suitable. There are many case studies showing that people with this diagnosis have individual needs that require individual interventions. However, counsellors who are less familiar with CBT or with ASD may need to do some initial reading elsewhere if they are to benefit from what is an excellent manual, because Part One is quite detailed in its presentation of “Understanding Autism”.
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DOING CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOTHERAPY
Richard Bromfield
Published by Wiley ISBN 978-0470121818
This is the second edition and justly earns the subtitle “Adapting psychodynamic treatment to contemporary practice”. Multi-agency work, family work, cultural issues, and the trend towards short-term, evidence based treatment are all addressed in a rational and convincing way. It is not, however, of use only to psychodynamic therapists – when we work with children and young people, it is always appropriate to be thinking in terms of their developmental issues and, on account of their immature cognitive systems, the thoughts, fears and phantasies they might be holding.
Bromfield deals with both talk and play, tools and techniques, and liberally scatters case material throughout. His first few chapters on The Essentials are excellent thought-provoking material for anyone working to any model. The book is written in such an accessible and transparent way that I consider it valuable reading for most therapists in this field.
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ADHD: LIVING WITHOUT BRAKES
Martin L Kutscher
Published by Jessica Kingsley ISBN 978-1843108733
This book is highly practical and forms the basis of an approach that would make sense to counsellors, teachers, parents and young people (for whom a chapter is specially written). I like the humorous tone, the absolute common sense of the author, a paediatric neurologist – which neither pushes nor condemns medication but explains both medical and (clearly elaborated) non-medical interventions.
The wonderful cartoons belie the depth and breadth of the content – but the whole book is presented in such an accessible way that you can race through it anyway, right to the stand-alone content summary in the last chapter – which is followed by various assessment tools and extra reading recommendations. En route, there are charts, lists, many sideheads and a regular Pop Quiz to emphasise chief points – which are Kutscher’s four rules: Keep it positive; Keep it calm; Keep it organised; Keep it going. Definitely a book to get if your clients include those with ADHD symptoms.
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COOL CONNECTIONS WITH COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY
Laurie Seiler
Published by Jessica Kingsley ISBN 978-1843106180
Subtitled “Encouraging Self-esteem, Resilience and Wellbeing in Children and Young People Using CBT Approaches”, this is a photocopiable workbook for encouraging wellbeing in young people aged nine to 14. It offers a 10-session format for running a group, with notes for facilitators and home worksheets on various topics for participants to complete. I really like these. The session activities are mixed – writing, discussion, games, role-play, puppet work etc – and include many that could be adapted for a single client by counsellors new to CBT techniques. Easy to dip into and pretty good as a groupwork plan for use in schools by teachers and other professionals.
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GRIEF IN YOUNG CHILDREN
Atle Dyregrov
Published by Jessica Kingsley ISBN 978-1843106500
Dyregrov has recently updated his Grief in Children, which has been the best book around on the topic, in my opinion. This one, Grief in Young Children, attends specifically to the needs of pre-school children. It is scattered with case examples that make it a really practical resource. In both books, the author takes a long-term view of possible consequences for the bereaved child, as well as their current likely needs. This is an excellent point that is not always emphasised enough. The latest book has the same high standard of detail and thinking as the previous one, and therefore will be of interest to many counsellors and perhaps also to parents.
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OVERCOMING TEENAGE DEPRESSION AND LOW MOOD
Nicky Dummett and Chris Williams
Published by Hodder Arnold ISBN 978-0340946572
This book is one of many resources (several are free) from the Five Areas site run by Chris Williams. He is a Patron of the National Phobics Society, as well as a Past President of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). The Five Areas are to do with: life situation, altered thinking, altered feelings or moods, altered physical symptoms and altered behaviour or activity levels.
The book consists of many short workbooks designed for the teen to work through, alone or with support, including many questions and checklists to fill in. The only drawback seems to be the need to have one for each person – there are no photocopying rights and the book is 350 pages long. After the first two workbooks, it can be tackled in any order that suits. It is more like a course, but well laid out and there is something clean and accessible about it that may well attract a not-too-depressed teen to have a go. Lots of information for counsellors who don’t actually want to give out the book.
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THE OTHER SIDE OF ADHD
Angela Southall
Published by Radcliffe ISBN 978-1846190681
This is a challenging but convincing book about the wheeling and dealing that has gone on in society to make ADHD a disease of evergrowing proportions. Southall has huge experience in her job and has undertaken an enormous amount of research to come up with the detailed history, publications, policies and societal factors that she wields as evidence that ADHD is not a bona fide brain disease but a construct based on misrepresentation and bias and passed onto the public as proof.
This is a discipline-crossing account but very readable. Phrases taken at random from the book will show its scope and attitude: Whose attention problem is it? Modern life is rubbish. Look closely at the ADHD support sites and you will find that many of them are sponsored by drug companies. If ADHD is a neurobiological disorder, why does it occur mostly in males? We [child therapists] are the naughty-boy catchers of the twentyfirst century. What initially seemed the solution to ADHD has become the problem…
This book has to be read by all child and adolescent therapists. Published 2007, it is still “hot” in the sense that the topic is of utmost importance to all of us in future.
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PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Adele Clark and Jacqui Blades
Published by Speechmark ISBN 978-0863886119
A set of 104 ideas for many professionals, in photocopiable “worksheet plus notes” format. The pack is for 10s-18s and covers topics that will be actually useful with teens of all ability in this age group, such as profiling who I am, transition, changing (in general), behaviour change, self-esteem, bereavement, family change, study skills, motivation, self-harming, drug awareness, bullying and school refusal. Although some of the ideas here are the kind I initiate from a discussion with the client, these sheets are very well done and not at all like others on the market. Most ideas can be used individually but also done in pairs or peer-mentoring groups, forming – the authors suggest – a short course using selected sheets. There are warnings to session leaders about being aware of their role boundaries but counsellors will be okay with whatever arises. I really like these – well, I wouldn’t be recommending them otherwise.
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UNSTRANGE MINDS
Roy Richard Grinker
Published by Icon Books ISBN 978-1840468939
A very readable analysis of the present state of play with the supposed “epidemic” of autism. Grinker is not only father of a child diagnosed with autism but an anthropologist, so we have cutting-edge research with practical experience mixed in. For me, this is the value of the book – his feet are firmly placed in both camps and his arguments therefore the more convincing. There are two parts to the book: firstly, the history of autism knowledge, including its gradual inclusion in DSM, and an insightful analysis of the figures people bandy around and how they may have been derived. Part two ranges round the world to India, South Korea and South Africa. If read by sufficient numbers of people, this book should do much to reduce the stigma of an autism diagnosis – and the panic associated with it. I was pleased to find it.
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FEELING LIKE CRAP
Young People and the Meaning of Self-Esteem
Nick Luxmoore
Published by Jessica Kingsley ISBN 978-1843106821
Nick talks about the developing self that is viewed positively or negatively (ie esteemed) from birth onwards, but that can be moved towards a more healthy confident position when in relationship with others who are attuned, who mirror, or who respect it as a good mother would have.
In the first main part, we meet the individual members of a four-week group and then listen in on the group. In the second main part, we meet young people with a fragmented sense of self; and he ends with chapters on a “school self” and a “potential self“. What I like about Nick’s writing is that it is as irresistible as the young people he works with – he writes in the present tense as he discusses what is, or might be, going on for them in his counselling session, and allows us to make comparisons with children we ourselves work with, as his thinking widens out regularly to show the reader how to reflect on the child, the possible meanings and interventions.
It’s one day’s reading (you’ll forego meals) but several years of inspiration – if you only extracted some of the group activities mentioned, you would have had value for money, and there’s so much more.
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PERSON-CENTRED WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
UK practitioner perspectives
Suzanne Keys, Tracey Walshaw (eds)
Published by PCCS Books ISBN 978-1906254018
The book has chapters on work in many settings and with different issues. It is refreshing to see exactly how the PC approach manages quite difficult cases, though I kept having the feeling that it was hard for the therapists to work against the ever-present idea these days that things must be moved on because time was pressing. Two chapters stood out for me (although all are informative and worth reading): the one about the pupil referral unit and the one where the adoption counsellor trusts the process of the adopting parents rather than remove the child for therapy. How good to see common sense, respect and patience working together to achieve lasting results. Amazon has a ‘search inside’ facility on this, so you can have a look and see if the chapters suit your interests.
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COUNSELING TOWARDS SOLUTIONS
Linda Metcalfe
Published by Jossey-Bass ISBN 978-0787998066
Amazing book – couldn’t put it down, even though I know SFT well. It is large, the paper is rough and the language somewhat American. But the content is great and applicable to all kids everywhere. The accent here is on showing how this works with students from reception to school leaving age (including school interactions with tutors and parents) and the focus is often on whole families and how SFT might look like with them. Very useful. As a school counsellor herself, Metcalfe shows how she affects all her school work with this approach. There are many case studies, plenty of sample dialogues (with realistic student responses!) and lots of photocopiable sheets – plus humour. This is the second edition but it has been brought well up to date.
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THE CHILDREN WHO LIVED
Kathryn and Marc Markell
Published by Routledge ISBN 978-0415957656
It is truly astonishing how many things relevant to death and loss can be found in the seven Harry Potter books. At first I was skeptical because the HP craze could be dying now. On the other hand, many children have read them and there are still more films to come. So – this book provides an enormous range of ideas and discussion material to use with bereaved children and adolescents. Four other books are added to the resources in case a child is anti-Potter. And the result is really good – the addition of a CD with all the material on it is a bonus. The only caveat is that you (and the child, of course)need to be thoroughly familiar with the HP books – if you are, the detailed notes will prompt you so that you can spontaneously discuss what you already knew deep down, but if not, you probably wouldn’t want to go this route.
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MAGICAL MOMENTS OF CHANGE
Lenore Terr
Published by Norton ISBN 978-0393705300
I’ve just finished this book, subtitled How psychotherapy turns kids around, and can do no better than quote a section of the dust jacket:
“While incorporating her own and other cases, in each section Terr probes the mysteries behind the progress that young people make, opening up a treasure trove of life-changing scenarios and potent techniques. Rarely, if ever, have so many good ways of working with children been explored in one place at one time.”
I feel affirmed and inspired yet again – that I am doing the right thing (whatever that is at the time with a particular child) and can do so again if I keep to my beliefs about how to help. These are difficult kids – Terr is a psychiatrist who firmly believes in psychotherapy over pure psychopharmacology for most cases. But the scenarios and principles are familiar to all of us
