Collaborative Family Work by Prof. Chris Trotter (2013) is a brief problem solving family intervention, involving 6-10 sessions with at least two family members. It involves working through the steps of setting ground rules, identifying family issues or problems, setting goals and developing strategies to address those goals. Collaborative Family Work offers practical strategies for working with families, always emphasising the importance of collaboration in assisting them in developing strategies to learn new skills and improve their lives. The model is strengths based, assisting families in setting goals, articulate strategies for change and develop methods of ongoing evaluation. Collaborative Family Work is suitable for work with families in a range of settings including youth justice, child protection, school welfare or with young people substance use issues. It is suitable in most situations where there is family conflict.
Chris Trotter’s Collaborative Family Work training will provide an overview of family work models and theories, from long-term therapeutic and narrative approaches to short-term solution-focused and mediation models. Most importantly, training in the model offers participants from diverse professional backgrounds an opportunity to learn advanced family therapy skills in a straight forward, practical way. Chris’s evidence-based model for family work draws on extensive field research and observation with experienced professionals.
‘Chris Trotter addresses the ”how” of practice in a field that is often stronger on general principles than it is on practical detail.’ – Dr Chris Beckett, University of East Anglia, UK
Learning Outcomes
- An understanding of each of the steps of Collaborative Family Work model
- Knowledge and confidence to carry out a series of collaborative family work sessions with a family group
- An understanding of when it is and when it is not appropriate to work with the family group