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Roots of uncertainty.

Article Excerpt
Accepting children into your practice mix introduces multiple uncertainties with roots that can run for several generations. We inherit more than DNA. We inherit a pattern of-tendencies to include behaviors. We see some of these patterns in the children that come to our practice. Some can be very disrupuve at home, school, and in the therapist's office. They can even bring legal uncertainties. In addition, children are not always reliable candidates for psychotherapy because of their limited vocabulary and ability to abstract.

Dealing with problems of childhood development can be very draining on the therapist. Adult problems add, to a large extent, issues that can be energizing when balanced against those issues of childhood and adolescence. Building a more general practice rather than a fairly narrowly focused practice can help balance levels of cases, issues, and energy needed to help solve problems. It doesn't matter what theory or technique a therapist uses; psychotherapy takes a lot of emotional and cognitive energy for both patients and therapists. No matter which setting you work within, psychotherapy deals with roots of uncertainty. Such uncertainty isn't all from the individual or the family. It includes the therapist, too.

The goals of a family practice tie both adults and children to common threads of concerns as well as to pathways of healing. Most therapy goals point to reducing the patterns of disruption, violence, miscommunication, and detachment in relationships. There are two sides of therapy: one reduces disruptive behaviors and irrational thoughts; the other side promotes those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that lead to emotionally healthy relationships. One of the factors that promote dysfunction within a family is the single parent.

Fatherless Homes

A single parent, normally the mother, raises many of these children. Fatherless homes...

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