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. This book is a must-read for all who work with children to open up exciting and pioneering new approaches for meeting the multifarious needs of our children and adolescents today.
Di Gammage, MA, UKCP, trained as a Dramatherapist and Play Therapist in the 1980s and early 1990s respectively. In 2010, she completed her training in Buddhist Psychotherapy from the Karuna Institute, Devon, and was accepted onto the UKCP Child Psychotherapy register in 2013. Di has worked in charities including the NSPCC Child Sexual Abuse Consultancy in Manchester with Anne Bannister, the NHS and the private sector as a psychotherapist and supervisor. She has taught at Terapia since 2006 on the Play Therapy Residential, Dramatherapy, and Working with Children and Young People who have experienced sexual abuse modules. Di is the author of Playful Awakening – Releasing the Gift of Play in Your Life (JKP, 2017). She currently practises in an independent fostercare agency in the South West UK together with her private practice as a therapist, supervisor and trainer. She completed a Masters in Creative Writing with Teeside University achieving a Distinction. Di continues to explore the integration of creative writing and well-being both for children and adults. Di lives in Devon.
Eileen Prendiville, psychotherapist, play therapist, and author; Director, Academic Affairs, Children’s Therapy Centre, Ireland –
‘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.’
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’ –
‘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.’
Beverly Neeson, counsellor in private practice and counselling lecturer, BACP Therapy Today, May 2024, 35:4 –
‘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.’