A Filial Therapy Model Through a Family Therapy Lens

Abstract

The call for family-centered therapeutic services, especially for families of young children, has come from governmental organizations, professional associations, practitioners, and families. Play therapists and family therapists are prime candidates to provide such services, but professional research and literature suggest that practitioners within these fields tend to exclude members of the family system. This had led some to propose filial therapy, an outgrowth of child-centered play therapy, as a means of meaningfully integrating parents and children in treatment. However, play therapists may have difficultly conceptualizing from a family systems lens, while family therapists may struggle to see the theoretical compatibility of filial therapy with their systemic views. This article demonstrates the conceptual overlap between filial therapy and the major family therapy models with the goal of encouraging play therapists and family therapists to answer the call to provide family-centered services.