ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on "Family Puppet Interview" (FPI), including Gil's amplification methods, along with innovative ways to expand the benefits of this activity. In 1975 Irwin and Malloy began to bridge this gulf when they introduced the FPI. The FPI is an interactive, structured assessment and treatment activity that involves the entire family, and which generates a "wealth of interactive data" to reveal important "symbolic family fantasy material". The FPI requires a collection of about 20 to 30 puppets. Comparing recordings of both FPIs is useful to highlight change, encourage clients, and clarify areas requiring further treatment. The family might review the FPI again, after which the therapist, as a TV "reporter," uses play microphones to interview each puppet, who are "experts" in noticing how puppets can work together to make things better. The puppets used in a family's FPI have been incorporated into "puppet reflecting teams", providing families with a fresh, surprising perspective of how others see them.
