Performance of Practice

Jim Wilson is a UKCP registered systemic psychotherapist with over thirty years experience in working in mental health and social care fields in the UK. He provides provides training, consultation, and practice projects in the UK, Europe, and the Far East. He is also a regular presenter at national and international conferences in mental health services and is known for his creative approaches to therapy and social practices with families. His articles and books are popular and prescribed texts texts in many training courses in family therapy, and related disciplines in the UK and elsewhere.

'This is Jim Wilson's second book in our series. He might call it his second act. His first book, Child Focused Practice, was very popular because it offered practical approaches to working with children for practitioners from diverse backgrounds. This current volume is written in the same spirit but takes his thinking and techniques into new areas. He is interested in two things: how therapists can release more of their own creativity when working with children and how they can use enactment to explore difficult family emotions.'The influence of systemic thinking on the family therapy world has often led to theories and techniques that have often overlooked the value of simply talking to and playing with children. This book goes some way to redressing that balance. It is loaded with examples of conversations with children, playful metaphors, enacted scenarios of traumatic events, and discussions that connect children to the other relationships in the family. The sheer pleasure Wilson gets from working directly with children is evident throughout the book and he is clearly drawing on his personal style, yet the book does not neglect the theorising that helps answer the question of why Wilson does what he does and why it is effective.'- David Campbell and Ros Draper, from the Series Editors' Foreword'For me reading this book was a relief. I came across so many things close to my own experience...I felt not so alone anymore. And it makes me wonder - why didn't I read these things before, in all these other books about family therapy?...With this pioneering effort he opens up a new domain for discussion and reflection in the family therapy field: the therapist's experiences in the session. I hope the readers of this book will appreciate the originality of the book and the courage of the writer.'- Peter Rober, from the Foreword

• ContentsIntroduction Theory, practice and the self of the therapist; three dimensions in the repertoire of therapy1 Pride and prejudice in family therapy theories2 The emergence of systemic focused drama: creating a sense of occasion3 Situating systemic focused drama4 Systemic focused drama: modes and applications5 Stories and their performance6 The therapist and the performance of practice7 Scales for reflection in the performance of practice8 As the curtain falls...