Martin Herbert is Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Royal and Devon Exeter Health Care Trust and Emeritus Professor at the University of Exeter. Karen V. Harper-Dorton is Professor of Social Work at West Virginia University and Director of the Reverend Ruth Burgess Center for West Virginia Families and Communities.

"The new edition of this major book should be purchased by social work and applied psychology students, tutors and practitioners as well as those who work in parent education and support. This edition retains the strengths of the original, but also updates readers by taking account of the huge output of research in relevant disciplines during the last two decades". Carole Sutton, De Montfort University

• List of Figures and Tables. About the Authors.Preface.Part I: Taking Account of Children and Their Families.1. Assessing Children and Their Families: Where to Begin.2. Approaching Assessment – Step-by-Step.3. Taking Account of the Family.4. Formulating the "Why" Question.Part II: Understanding Development and Change in Families and Children.5. Childhood and adolescence.6. Responsiveness in Parents and Children.7. Loss and Change Experienced by Children and Families.Part III: You as Helper.8. Intervention: Preliminaries, Planning, and Implementation.9. The "How" Question: Helping People to Change.10. More Methods and Techniques.11. Child Management and Behavioral Methods.12. Using Life skills Training.Part IV: Empowerment of families and Evaluation of Practice.13. Beyond the Agency Door: Empowering and Mentoring Families.14. Evaluating Practice Processes and Outcomes.Epilogue.Appendix 1: Parent Training.Appendix 2: Treatment Options in Cases of Child Abuse and Neglect.Appendix 3: Separation and Divorce: a Counselling and Behavioral Manual.Appendix 4: Sources of Increased Self-empowerment.Bibliography.Index.