Treating Families and Children in the Child Protective System

Dr. Wes Crenshaw, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and holds board certification in Family Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). Dr. Crenshaw directs the Institute and has over 11 years of experience providing therapy to families and adults. He specializes in working with adolescents and young adults on issues of sexuality, interpersonal conflict, eating, oppositional behavior, substance abuse, and academic achievement. He is trained and experienced in conducting parenting and custody evaluations for the courts, and has a unique specialization in foster care and adoption therapies. He has published papers in numerous peer-reviewed journals and has served as a training consultant and supervisor for numerous agencies in Kansas, Colorado, and Virginia.

"A profound and eminently readable treatise that provides clear guidelines to practitioners of child and family therapy who interact with social agencies. Wes Crenshaw is an expert to be studied and modeled." -- Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D., Director, The Milton H. Erickson Foundation"Readers will find themselves and their clients, both in their successes and their failures, with a better understanding of what went right or what went wrong. I recommend this book with enthusiasm." -- Paul B. Pedersen, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Syracuse University and Visiting Professor, University of Hawaii"Don't abandon hope, ye who enter into the world of very difficult families and the so-called child protective system! Take Wes Crenshaw as your guide. Smart, savvy, and impassioned, he provides a moral compass and the theory of strategic humanism, beautifully illustrated with poignant, real-life case examples, to help clinicians and caseworkers navigate the many perils that one is likely to encounter. Highly recommended!" -- Michael F. Hoyt, Ph.D., Senior Staff Psychologist, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, San Rafael; Author of Brief Therapy and Managed Care"In one of the most useful books to appear in a long time, Wes Crenshaw shows how to implement a host of ingenious strategies while still retaining the genuineness and authenticity necessary for working with this very difficult population." -- Michael P. Nichols, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, College of William and Mary Author of The Lost Art of Listening

• Table of Contents. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Turning Points. Justice Themes in Family Therapy. Curative Factors and Obstacles to Change. Contrition, Forgiveness, and the Restoration of Justice. The Power of Apology. I Never Heard You Cry Before. Navigating the Child Protective System. Family-friendly Therapy and Evaluation: Priorities and Process. Tracks and Strategies in the Foster Care Crisis. You Can't Fight the System. Defending September. Ringing the Bell: Integrating Contrition into an Existing Program. Epilogue. References