How to Be a Better Child Therapist is a deeply thoughtful integration of theory, technique, content, and process. Starting with the emotional experiences of the child, Barish integrates interventions and thought processes into a beautiful mosaic of intuitive science and refined art that will be of enormous value to child clinicians.--Steve Tuber, PhD, ABPP, author of Starting Treatment with Children and Adolescents
[B]ased on hope and promise. . . . It also reflects an everyday truth of child therapy: parents really want and need help with ordinary situations like leaving the house in the morning, bedtime, and homework. . . . By demonstrating thinking along emotional (as opposed to other theoretical) lines, it models a creative and empathic way of thinking about what is going on in our clients' lives.-- "Children, Young People, & Families (UK)"
Barish offers a clear, thoughtful way to understand the emotional and behavioral problems of childhood. . . . [I]ntegrates a wide range of therapeutic modalities into an approach that is clear, practical, and eminently useful. This book should be required reading for any therapist working with children.-- "Psych Central"
I thoroughly enjoyed this accessible guide...It manages to combine clinically informed theory with practical recommendations for treatment, and conveys real warmth and compassion for both children and parents.-- "Sussex Counseling and Psychotherapy News"
It is hard to imagine that after reading it, child therapists, either in their early career or otherwise, would not have absorbed enough of Barish's unique perspective and/or useful techniques to have become better child therapists. At the same time, the book goes beyond the purview of the title, providing deeply thoughtful insights into what motivates children, what they need, how they grow, and how to help them do so in the most adaptive and beneficial ways within a family system...Perhaps most unique, the process of reading the book is one that is pleasurable and that reconnects readers to not only the humanity of child patients and their families but to their own humanity, a true gift in any kind of book.-- "Psychoanalytic Psychology"
This book communicates principles of treatment in a way that directly translates into how to approach parents and children so that they have a better relationship. Without pretense or technical lexicon, this book can elicit confident, natural counseling treatment. I recommend it especially for this.-- "The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newsletter"
Ken Barish, a master clinician, has done a wonderful job of translating his clinical sensitivity and attunement into principles and methods that are eminently usable. He is an excellent teacher and explicates beautifully both his thinking and what he actually does in his office. The book is filled with practical suggestions not only for working with children but also for helping repair family units.--Ellen Wachtel, PhD, JD, author of Treating Troubled Children and Their Families
This book is testament to the wisdom and generosity of Ken Barish. It describes an approach to child therapy that is clinically informed, science based, and emotionally focused. Child therapists who aspire to be consistently transformative would do well to read this volume.--Tim Cavell, PhD, University of Arkansas
As in his prior works, Ken Barish has once more demonstrated the quintessence of the evidence-based practitioner. His writing is clear. His theoretical conceptualizations are brilliant. His translation of theory into practice is masterful. This book should be required reading for every professional working with troubled children. It is wisdom, pure and simple.--Marshall P. Duke, PhD, Charles Howard Chandler Professor of Psychology, Senior Faculty Fellow, Emory Center for Ethics, Emory University