Gill Gorell Barnes

This book is about the changing social contexts for fathering in the United Kingdom since the end of the Second World War, and the social moves from patriarchal fatherhood to multiple ways of doing 'dad'. The book questions why fathers have been marginalised by therapists working with children and families. It proposes that theories of psychotherapy, including attachment theory, have failed to take father love for their children, and the reality of changing social fatherhoods, sufficiently into account, consequently affecting related practice. Different contemporary family structures and multiple variations of relationship between fathers and children are considered. Many fathers, brought up within earlier patriarchal frameworks for viewing fatherhood are still trying to exercise these within contexts of rapid change in expectations of men as fathers. They may find themselves in troubled and oppositional relations with partners and oftern children. Examples are given for thinking abour fathers in different relationship transitions, including 'non-live-in' fatherhoods, re-entering children's lives after long absences, fathering following acrimonious divorce, and a range of social fatherhoods.

This book is about the changing social contexts for fathering in the United Kingdom since the end of the Second World War, and the social moves from patriarchal fatherhood to multiple ways of doing 'dad'. The book questions why fathers have been marginalised by therapists working with children and families. It proposes that theories of psychotherapy, including attachment theory, have failed to take father love for their children, and the reality of changing social fatherhoods, sufficiently into account, consequently affecting related practice. Different contemporary family structures and multiple variations of relationship between fathers and children are considered. Many fathers, brought up within earlier patriarchal frameworks for viewing fatherhood are still trying to exercise these within contexts of rapid change in expectations of men as fathers. They may find themselves in troubled and oppositional relations with partners and oftern children. Examples are given for thinking abour fathers in different relationship transitions, including 'non-live-in' fatherhoods, re-entering children's lives after long absences, fathering following acrimonious divorce, and a range of social fatherhoods.

Many of those who emigrated from the Caribbean to the UK after World War II left behind partners and children, causing the break-up of families who were often not reunited for several years.In this book, Elaine Arnold examines the psychological impact that immigration had on these families, in particular with relation to attachment issues. She demonstrates that the disruption caused by separation from both family and country often had long-term traumatic consequences. The book draws on two studies carried out by the author in 1975 and 2001. In the first, she interviewed mothers who had emigrated without their children, and in the second, children (now adults) who had been left behind and were later reunited with their parents. This insightful book will assist all those working with people of African Caribbean origin in the UK to better understand their experiences and the impact that separation and loss has had on their lives. It is essential reading for social workers, counsellors, therapists and any other professionals working with families of African Caribbean origin.

The new edition of this well-known text addresses the plurality of family life today, and considers the way in which the changeable 'theory of family' has influenced the approaches of those working with families. The emphasis in this second edition is on working in a context of cultural diversity and in which life transitions such as marriage, divorce and bereavement, affect the lives of all families, be they multi- or lone-parent, gay or heterosexual. This is an essential text for therapists and counsellors, both in training and in practice, who work with families.

As the training of family and systemic practitioners becomes increasingly more formalised, the issue of supervision and supervisory training has grown in importance. Systemic Supervision evaluates the practical and theoretical issues involved in implementing and maintaining effective supervisory training within a family therapy practice. The authors outline the UKCP requirements for supervision as interpreted through the Association of Family Therapy Guidelines, and provide an overview of a course designed to cover these requirements, including models of theory, structures for setting up supervised practice at work and a description of new models of therapy which have affected the processes of supervision.Supervision may also create practical and ethical dilemmas, which may arise from personality differences, communication problems or social contexts. Systemic Supervision examines the relationship between supervisor and trainee in terms of power, gender, ethnicity and sexuality, and ways to deal with these issues. In their conclusion, the authors evaluate what new issues for therapy and theory the development of supervisor training creates.Systemic Supervision is unique in examining supervision within family therapy, and in drawing out not just the theoretical implications but also looking at the practical questions involved. Its recommendations are based on the authors' experience of setting up and running supervisory practices. It will be essential reading for those at all levels working with families.

Supporting children and families through separation and divorce is a major area of concern in contemporary society. However, it is sometimes hard for those professionals who are helping families to hear the `voice' of the child in this process. Writing from their wide experience as clinicians working with children and families, Emilia Dowling and Gill Gorell Barnes set out in this book to address this gap, and allow the child to be heard.Working with Children and Parents through Separation and Divorce combines research with clinical and practical approaches to working with families going through stressful changes linked to separation or divorce. Attention is given to the wider context of children's lives with the implications for general practice, schools and other services addressed in special chapters. A focused approach to divorce related problems that takes each family member's view into account is illustrated. Combining individual and family work helps parents to resolve difficulties, enabling children troubled by parental separation to progress with their own lives.This book is essential reading for `front line' professionals as well as specialists who encounter children and families going through this life transition in the course of their work.