ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the effective methods of respectfully engaging children and their parents or caregivers in the therapy process, and examines the rationale for involving parents and children in sessions and other systemic issues. Focusing on the times when the problem could occur but doesn't, and learning more about what happens instead, is one of the most exciting therapeutic conversations. One of the assumptions of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is that clients are the experts on their own lives. Therefore, the child is the expert on their own life and the parent is the expert on the family. The first and most important point of collaboration is with the child's parents, guardians, and caregivers. In addition to parents and other professionals, children have extended family, youth leaders, and parents of friends, imaginary friends, toys, and pets as resources that can be mined for therapeutic success. Trauma touches the lives of children just as it does the lives of adults.
