SAFE: An integrative, collaborative approach for working with families with a child diagnosed with autism

The workshop will offer an overview of our structured approach to working with families who have a child with a diagnosis of autism.  Following an often-protracted delay in receiving a diagnosis many families find there is little support available to help them manage various challenges that they face.  In particular we hear frequent reports of them struggling to find ways of managing patterns of challenging emotional escalations.  SAFE adopts a strengths – based stance   building on families’ competencies and uses a combination of multi-parent and individual family therapy sessions.   It also employs concepts from attachment theory , especially the idea of co-constructing with families a’ secure base’ from which to   explore and promote positive changes.  The workshop will illustrate some key features of our approach and will also describe the major research trail in which we are now engaged along with a summary of some  of our preliminary findings.

Biography

Rudi Dallos is Emeritus professor of clinical psychology at the University of Plymouth, UK where he  continues to  engage in teaching, research and supervision. He has worked as a family therapists for over 40 years and currently has a private practice  where he sees families  and offers clinical supervision.   Rudi has developed a systemic approach -  Attachment Narrative Therapy (ANT)  which integrates ideas form narrative, attachment theory and systemic therapy.  Over the last five years he has specialised in work with families with a child with a diagnosis of autism  and has developed and approach -  SAFE  which utilises ANT to  assist families. This has also been developed into SWIS which is an approach to foster communication and problem- solving between parent and teachers in the context of autism.  He has published a variety of papers and currently is editor of the journal Human Systems, Attachment, Culture and Change. Rudi has written several books including an introduction to Family Therapy, Attachment Narrative Therapy, Don’t Blame the Parents: Positive Intentions ,Scripts and  Change in Family Therapy and,  most recently Applications of Attachment Narrative Therapy.

Dr. Becky Stancer is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies , University of Plymouth.  She is trained as a family therapists and has specialised in  research and clinical work with autism over the last 20 years.  Becky has published widely in the area of autism and has developed the SAFE approach with Rudi.