ABSTRACT
Stith et al. in their survey of children's views of therapy also noted that children found a combination of talk and action/play to be most useful, as well as therapist factors of empathy and friendliness. Therapist factors are equally important in establishing a good working alliance with parents. Usually when parents are engaged, the children will comply, or at least attend for sessions. If the therapist is overly permissive in offering challenging children an opportunity to opt out, they will usually take it with both hands. The therapist has to make a balanced judgement, reading between the lines as to whether the child is making a protest on the surface but "secretly" finding the meetings of help. The style of collaborative practice illustrated in child-focused practice draws on every resource available to the therapist about what he knows and humility about what he does not.
