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The Practitioner’s Guide to Working with Families pp 103–126Cite as

Theme-Focused Family Therapy: Working with the Dynamics of Emotional Abuse and Neglect within an Attachment and Systems Perspective

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Abstract

Theme-focused Family Therapy (TFFT) is a form of therapeutic intervention which addresses the emotional world of traumatised families. It does this by organising the family sessions around a central key theme which focuses on the affective experience of the family members. The work is to enable the family to discuss their emotions, the impact they have as individuals on one another, and the meaning they have for each other.

I wish to acknowledge the contribution of Liza Bingley Miller, who contributed to the drafting of the sections on the family history and the current concerns and setting the parameters for the theme-focused work. She and I have worked together over many years with social workers applying this way of working within the context of social services departments. More recently we have taught TFFT on the York and Regions Post-Qualifying Child Care Partnership.

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Authors
  1. Una McCluskey
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Margaret Bell Kate Wilson

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© 2003 Una McCluskey

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McCluskey, U. (2003). Theme-Focused Family Therapy: Working with the Dynamics of Emotional Abuse and Neglect within an Attachment and Systems Perspective. In: Bell, M., Wilson, K. (eds) The Practitioner’s Guide to Working with Families. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-21689-1_6

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