ABSTRACT
The basic structure and principles of our collaborative family therapy involves: 1. Meeting the person with the expectation that they are worthy of our deepest respect. 2. Sharing the power of decision-making with the family. 3. Sharing expert and insider knowledge instead of prescribing it. The professional becomes the family's appreciative ally and explores narratives about the families, to identify narratives that are either problematic or positive sustaining for the families. Stories describe the first telephone contact, the first conversation, and two therapeutic letters. One letter invites a child to therapy, the other is a therapeutic letter after the first session with the parents of a young boy. A parent describes their experience of collaborating with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health System. True collaboration demands that we expect the people we collaborate with to have knowledge that we do not have, that their knowledge will have equal value to ours, and will be equally essential to the success of our shared project.
