This article presents a case study on the use of arts-based resources in family therapy to help children and their post-separation families describe their experience, communicate and collaborate with each other, witness and learn about each other, and develop their individual and family well-being.

This article looks at a process-oriented play therapy for children adversely affected by parental separation. Process-oriented play therapy is a therapeutic method that involves the therapist directly entering the ‘world of play’ with the child, by amplifying various modes of expression and helping underlying meaning to emerge, in order to help children access aspects of their life they feel they have no say in. One particular case has been used as an example, involving ‘Jim’ (pseudonym) and his mother, who attended the play therapy session.

Max Cornwell is a psychologist and social worker in Sydney. He edited ANZJFT from 1985 until 1996 and is a former editor of Australian Social Work. He has taught in hundreds of venues in Australia and abroad. In 1980 he co-founded the Family Therapy Institute, a major influence on the training of family therapists in New South Wales until the mid-90s. He is an Honorary Life Member of VAFT and has received the Journal Award for services to family therapy.

Alistair Campbell is Research Editor for the ANZJFT. He is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology and Director of the Psychology Clinic at James Cook University in Townsville. He speaks provocatively with Ben Hansen about research and training in family therapy, about accountability to our clients, and about practice.

Helen Pavlin is an accredited mental health social worker and family therapist and accredited family dispute resolution practitioner in private practice in Darwin. She has been involved in social work and family therapy since the early 1970s in Australia and internationally. In 1996 she received the 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal from the Australian Association of Social Workers. She is one of the assessors and associate editors for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy. In 2007 Helen received the Journal Award for her outstanding contribution to the family therapy field in Australia. She is an accomplished writer and a member of the Australian Society of Authors. Her poems and book reviews have been published frequently in ANZJFT.

The author describes her work with a dying patient, work that extends from the patient to his wife and adult offspring, and has transformative benefits for the family.

A highly intelligent psychopath is not easily identified, and counsellors can fall victim to their manipulations unless aware of the characteristics by which psychopaths can be identified and to the feelings and sensations that they provoke. When working individually with clients, engaging other family members may be a necessary safeguard against clinical manipulation and its undesirable consequences.