Aaron Kindsvatter

Treating Infidelity: Considering Narratives of Attachment

This article presents a counseling model for treating infidelity based on the integration of key aspects of attachment theory into a narrative therapy approach. The authors describe specific guidelines for their model after first reviewing personal attachment styles with a proclivity toward infidelity and providing a brief review of initial treatment considerations. Finally, they present a case example illustrating the use of narrative therapy and attachment theory as a model for treating infidelity.

Using Creative Techniques With Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

Verbal and emotional forms of expression can be difficult for young children who have experienced trauma. Creative methods and approaches such as puppets, sandtray, letter writing, and art are therapeutic mediums that provide an outlet for a young client’s story of trauma to be told. Children can use puppets to depersonalize and share feelings with a counselor that would provide insight into their coping strategies. Similarly, sandtray is another nonverbal approach that gives children the opportunity to externalize their feelings safely and can be easily used with extroverted and introverted clients. Letter writing and art can empower children and give them hope for the future. In summary, creative techniques can allow counselors to help explore stories of trauma with young clients.

The Facilitation and Maintenance of the Therapeutic Alliance in Family Therapy

The formation and maintenance of the therapeutic alliance in family therapy involves complexities pertaining to the stabilizing tendency of family systems, and the necessity for negotiation of the goals and tasks of therapy with and among multiple individuals (i.e., the family members) in a context of systemic reciprocity and mutual influence. This article explores the complexities associated with the establishment and maintenance of the therapeutic alliance in family therapy. Alliance stances are presented as clinical applications designed to assist therapists in working with split alliances, establishing within family collaboration, and in negotiating homeostatic processes.

Treatment Planning as Collaborative Care Map Construction: Reframing Clinical Practice to Promote Client Involvement

Collaborative care map construction is proposed as an alternative reference to the clinical practice of treatment planning. This reframe is intended to highlight the importance of client–therapist collaboration in “mapping out” care. Six therapist postures or practices are presented and discussed that promote client involvement: (a) speaking tentatively, (b) revisiting role induction, (c) inviting client preferences, (d) determining direction, (e) wondering aloud, and (f) checking for clarity and soliciting feedback. Suggestions are provided for employing these postures within the time constraints and external controls of managed care entities.

Structural Techniques for Engaging Reluctant Parents in Counseling

Parents sometimes present their children for counseling with the hope that counselors can resolve or ameliorate their childrens “pathology.” Often what is presented or understood by parents as the individual pathology of children in fact has a relational component involving parental interactions with the children. However, some parents may initially be reluctant consumers of the counseling process. Yet, parental involvement is important because parents may not only be contributors to the problem that their children are experiencing, but the best resource to assist their children in developing positive mental health. This article describes structural interventions for engaging reluctant parents in counseling.

An Invitation to Between-Session Change: The Use of Therapeutic Letters in Couples and Family Counseling

Therapeutic letters (i.e., brief therapeutic messages that are sent to clients between counseling sessions) have been used since the days of Freud and have been shown to have beneficial therapeutic impacts. This article describes the use of therapeutic letters in couples and family counseling. The use of three types of therapeutic letter (letters of alliance, intensity, and meaning) are discussed. Ethical and legal issues pertaining to privacy and recommended practices for addressing such issues are reviewed.

Huckleberry Finn Reconsidered: An Interview with David Nylund.

This article describes the views of author and therapist David Nylund on working with children and adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this interview, Nylund shares his views on how pathologizing language can interfere with the bringing forth of the inherent skills, knowledge, and talents that parents, teachers, and children might otherwise adopt in coping with the problems associated with ADHD. In addition, Nylund shares his ideas about how the stances and techniques of narrative counseling can engender possibilities for therapeutic change.

The Use of Therapeutic Letters in Addressing Parent–Child Attachment Problems

This article describes the use of attachment theory in conjunction with therapeutic letters to facilitate conversations in family counseling pertaining to the role of attachment needs in the maintenance of parent–child relational problems. The authors explore how letters can be used to supplement therapeutic endeavors in addressing attachment related patterns associated with parent–child conflict. Therapeutic tasks related to the application of attachment theory and associated letters are discussed.

Intentional Practices in Supervision of Family Counseling: The Use of Supervisory Letters.

Supervisors perform various roles in helping to guide the supervisee through the challenging process of family counseling. The use of letters in supervision helps to focus the supervisory processes in family counseling. Following the discrimination model of supervision, three types of supervisory letters are suggested for intentional supervision practices: letters of teaching, letters of counseling, and letters of consultation.

A Structural Approach to Assisting Families Recovering From Job Loss

Job loss can have a significant impact on family structure, which in turn may be associated with interpersonal turmoil among family members. This article examines the impact of job loss on families through a systemic lens. Structural techniques for addressing transitions and interpersonal turmoil associated with job loss are discussed.