One Tree, Many Branches

One Tree, Many Branches contains twelve inspirational chapters on the practice of integrative child and adolescent psychotherapy in four parts: therapeutic holding, race and cultural identity, neurodivergence and differently wired brains, and systemic issues and working within the system. It is a must-read for all who work

The book includes contributions from Audrey Adeyemi, Tasha Bailey, Kelly Brackett, Jamie Butterworth, Alix Hearn, Evania Inward, Irene Mburu, Sasha Morphitis, Magda Raczynska, Nadja Rolli, Zisi Schleider, and Anna Tuttle. One Tree, Many Branches: The Practice of Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the pioneering child and adolescent psychotherapy and counselling training organisation Terapia and the achievements of its trainees, tutors, and staff, who provide highly specialised counselling, psychotherapy, and bespoke mental health services for young people, children, parents, and families. Terapia works with individuals, organisations, schools, and the statutory and non-statutory sector and is a strong voice for child psychotherapy as a distinct and specialist profession. Therapeutic work with children requires a different set of skills and knowledge to that of adult psychotherapists. For example, much of the work is non-verbal and uses play and metaphor alongside talking. It also requires involvement with the system around the child, such as parents, families, and professionals, and the management of conflicting agendas and politics to act on behalf of the child. Subjects discussed within its pages include ecopsychotherapy, autism, the lack of male psychotherapists, working with refugees, racial trauma, female genital mutilation, working in closed communities, and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The book is essential reading for all who work with children and opens up exciting and pioneering new approaches for meeting the multifarious needs of our children and adolescents today.

Acknowledgements About the editors and contributors Foreword Introduction: Seeds sown Bozena Merrick and Di Gammage Part I: Therapeutic holding> 1. Ecopsychotherapy with children and young people in mind: attachment to place, nature, and landscape Alix Hearn 2. Airy creatures: using somatic countertransference to ground autistic states in child psychotherapy Magda Raczynska 3. The absent other: reflections on the absence of male, integrative child and adolescent psychotherapists Jamie Butterworth Part II: Race and cultural identity 4. Meet them where they are: integrative psychotherapy with refugee children and young people Evania Inward 5. Unveiling racial trauma in the practice of the integrative child and adolescent psychotherapist Audrey Adeyemi 6. Understanding the trauma and implications of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) through child psychotherapy Irene Mburu 7. Working with children and young people in the Orthodox Jewish Community Zisi Schleider 8. Go well: Exploring themes of grief and loss in therapy with children and young people Tasha Bailey Part III: Neurodivergence and differently wired brains 9. Working therapeutically with uniquely wired children Sasha Morphitis 10. Is it too late? The contribution of the integrative child psychotherapist to those affected by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Anna Tuttle Part IV: Systemic issues and working within systems 11. An ongoing conversation...What (really) works in therapeutic residential care Kelly Brackett 12. Working through play on the mentalizing capacity of controlling-caregiving children who suffered early relational trauma Nadja Rolli Index,

Acknowledgements

About the editors and contributors

Foreword

Introduction: Seeds sown
Bozena Merrick and Di Gammage

Part I: Therapeutic holding
1. Ecopsychotherapy with children and young people in mind: attachment to place, nature, and landscape

Alix Hearn

2. Airy creatures: using somatic countertransference to ground autistic states in child psychotherapy
Magda Raczynska

3. The absent other: reflections on the absence of male, integrative child and adolescent psychotherapists
Jamie Butterworth

Part II: Race and cultural identity
4. Meet them where they are: integrative psychotherapy with refugee children and young people

Evania Inward

5. Unveiling racial trauma in the practice of the integrative child and adolescent psychotherapist
Audrey Adeyemi

6. Understanding the trauma and implications of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) through child psychotherapy
Irene Mburu

7. Working with children and young people in the Orthodox Jewish Community
Zisi Schleider

8. Go well: Exploring themes of grief and loss in therapy with children and young people
Tasha Bailey

Part III: Neurodivergence and differently wired brains
9. Working therapeutically with uniquely wired children

Sasha Morphitis

10. Is it too late? The contribution of the integrative child psychotherapist to those affected by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Anna Tuttle

Part IV: Systemic issues and working within systems
11. An ongoing conversation…What (really) works in therapeutic residential care

Kelly Brackett

12. Working through play on the mentalizing capacity of controlling-caregiving children who suffered early relational trauma
Nadja Rolli

Index

• Edited by Bozena Merrick
• Edited by Di Gammage

'This most welcome book addresses a significant gap in the literature regarding the practice of integrative child and adolescent psychotherapy. It sensitively tackles a multitude of important topics, bringing the client’s experiences, and the reparative relationships formed with the therapist, to life in a warm and inspirational way. This is a beautiful text, a must-read for all humanistic and integrative child and adolescent psychotherapists.'

— Eileen Prendiville, psychotherapist, play therapist, and author; Director, Academic Affairs, Children’s Therapy Centre, Ireland

'This excellent book demonstrates how integrative child psychotherapy has more than come of age. Brave, moving, clinically and intellectually rigorous, its chapters interrogate and illuminate essential contemporary therapeutic subjects, from neurodiversity to race to the body to displacement to systems and so much more. This is a marvellous and rich resource for experienced and newer therapists and anyone working with children.’

— Graham Music, consultant child and adolescent psychotherapist, Tavistock Centre, London, and author of 'Nurturing Children: From Trauma to Growth Using Attachment Theory, Psychoanalysis and Neurobiology'

'Contributors provide insight for counselling practitioners looking to support integrative ways of working with children and young people, and an array of strategies for therapeutic work with diverse populations. [...] The chapter on 'Somatic countertransference to ground autistic states' exemplifies the book's commitment to innovative approaches, exploring how various bodily experiences can support autistic clients. Meanwhile, discussions on racial trauma and female genital mutilation highlight the book's dedication to addressing sensitive and complex issues with trauma-informed strategies. [...] This book provides practitioners with a rich assortment of insights to elevate their counselling practice when working with children and adolescents across a diverse range of contexts and challenges.'

— Beverly Neeson, counsellor in private practice and counselling lecturer, BACP Therapy Today, May 2024, 35:4