The Deliberate Dialogue: A method for facilitating effective conversation with a parent and child about potentially stressful topics

One of the main jobs of a family therapist is to help members of the family to talk to each other in a constructive way about stressful topics.  But many clients who have intense feelings, have had traumatic histories, or who have big problems in the family make this goal difficult. Therapists need a structured format, a “road map” for facilitating these tricky conversations.   For example:

In these situations, it is very helpful to use the deliberate dialogue to help children and parents talk about their troubles in a safe way. The deliberate dialogue is inspired by techniques from dyadic developmental psychotherapy  (DDP).

In this workshop, you will learn to:

• Use the Deliberate Dialogue to structure a productive conversation between child and parent
• Guiding parents to stay accepting and empathic in the Deliberate Dialogue
• Use the PACE (Playful Accepting Curious and Empathic) Attitude to discover what is truly bothering the child underneath
• What to do with a child who says “I don’t know” or won’t use words to answer your questions
• Find ways “talk about” and “talk for” a child to help deepen connection and understanding between parent and child.