For Parents Only: A Strategic Family Therapy Approach in School Counseling

Schools are excellent resources for families whose children are experiencing behavioral problems at home and at school. School counselors who have training in systems theory are situated to help families make lasting positive changes in family structure and to avoid costly interventions that may or may not be helpful. According to Selvini-Palazzoli (1986), the problems between parents and children can be addressed using a universal set of directives that immediately restore the proper authority to the parents so that the parents can, in effect, help the child give up the symptomatic behavior. This article presents a technique based on Selvini-Palazzoli’s “invariable prescription” (p. 342) for professional school counselors working with families and their acting-out children.