Simultaneous psychotherapy with an autistic boy and his parents

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the simultaneous psychotherapeutic work with a four-and-a-half-year-old autistic boy and his parents. The simultaneous psychotherapy was conducted by the same therapist who was at the time working at the Erica Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. In particular, the paper focuses on the mutual influence between the work with the child and the work with the parents, as well as the impact of this model of work on the child’s treatment. Technical aspects of the simultaneous psychotherapies of the child and the parents are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Simultaneous psychotherapy
• parent-work
• child psychotherapy
• autism
• the Erica Method

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Malby Oliver for reading this paper and for her helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

May Nilsson

May Nilsson is a qualified child and adolescent psychotherapist working in private practice in Stockholm, Sweden.  She has long experience of  managing training, teaching and supervision on various courses. Her previous papers include work with autistic children. May Nilsson is a Swedish delegate for the child and adolescent section in the EFPP.