This book uniquely addresses the application of CBT to children and young people within health, school and community contexts.

With the recent expansion of increasing access to psychological therapies (IAPT) CBT is increasingly applied to work with children outside the traditional therapy clinic. This book provides accessible knowledge and practice skills for professional staff working with troubled children and young people in real-world settings. Front-line practitioners commonly face children with complex patterns of difficulties that do not fit clear diagnostic categories. Moreover, long waiting lists and fixed lengths of treatment don't always fit the presenting needs. Correspondingly, the authors take a much-needed realistic approach to applying CBT to childhood problems.

At the center of this book is the child, the authors moving outwards to cover childhood itself, the principles, core practice and techniques of CBT and its adaptation to the context of the therapy. This is relevant and accessible reading for a wide range of specialist child trainees and practitioners, including new IAPT therapists, counselors, nurses, teachers and social workers.

The Therapeutic Alliance

The therapeutic alliance

As with all forms of therapy, CBT practitioners need to establish constructive relationships with clients. In CBT, this relationship is not the principal mechanism of change as may be considered in some forms of psychotherapy, but it is an essential building block without which therapy is unlikely to be effective. There is a large literature on the positive impact of the therapeutic alliance on engagement and outcomes in CBT with adults and also with children and young people (Kazdin, Whitley, & Marciano, 2006; Shirk, 2008; Kendall, Comer, Marker, Creed, Puliafico, Hughes, & Hudson, 2009). The aim of this chapter is to highlight a number of very specific aspects of the therapeutic alliance and its relevance to CBT with children.

Truax and ...

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