ABSTRACT
The term "Special Child" has replaced the terms symptom-bearer," "scapegoat," or "identified patient" in our family therapy clinic over the last ten years of family therapy practice. We have found it a more systemic way of describing the child whose problem brings the family in for therapy. It is also a frame that implies positive intention and allows the therapist to push the parents and the child towards change. It has proved useful in two other areas as well: in training family therapists and in giving presentations to the general public.
