Therapeutic Stories for Foster, Adoptive and Kinship Families

Book excerpt: This accessible resource contains therapeutic stories and guidance for adults who are supporting young people aged 10–14 in foster, adoptive or kinship families. With a solution-focused approach, the stories are designed to address a range of social and emotional problems, covering topics such as bullying, eating disorders, trauma, parents’ health, homophobia and racism. Each story is accompanied by relevant context and theory, discussion points and creative activities that will stimulate the young person’s problem-solving skills and imagination, empowering them to explore solutions to situations in their own lives. Key features include: 35 therapeutic stories created to help young people make sense of their experiences, illustrating empathetic responses and solutions to social and emotional difficulties. Discussion points and related activities based on the author’s extensive practical experience and knowledge. Practice guidelines and case studies to illustrate how the story-making approach can be used by therapists, adoptive parents, social workers and teachers. Photocopiable and downloadable resources. This book will enable foster, adoptive and kinship parents, social workers, therapists, teachers and other professionals to support the young people with whom they are working to resolve their dilemmas and enhance their self-esteem.