Filial Therapy is a unique therapeutic approach in which you are guided to conduct weekly, 30-minute,
play therapy sessions at home with your child. Through this process, you will develop a deeper therapy
involves a commitment on your part, please read through the following information on this page.
Typically, Filial Therapy is most beneficial for children ages 3 - 12. However, many children as young as
2 years of age and up to 13 can benefit from Filial Therapy. A modified form of filial therapy can be
used with infants and toddlers. Filial Therapy is beneficial for both the parent and the child. The
following concerns can be addressed with filial therapy:
- Preparing for or after the arrival of a new sibling
- Reconnecting with a parent experiencing postpartum depression/anxiety
- Attachment related difficulties in biological/foster/adoptive families
- Depression, sadness, moodiness
- Grief & loss
- Moving
- Divorce
- Aggressive behaviors
- Excessively worries, anxiety, or separation issues
- Traumatic stress from events such as accidents, witnessing violence, abuse or a natural disaster
- Self-esteem or identity problems
- Nightmares/night terrors
- Needing to be center of attention
- School related difficulties
- Social issues
Goals and Benefits of Filial Therapy:
- Strengthened relationship with your child
- Develop a deeper understanding of your child
- Your child learns and understand their feelings
- You and your child learn to express feelings and communicate in healthy ways
- You and your child develop new problem solving skills
- Reduce or eliminate challenging behaviors
- Your child will feel heard and understood
- Your child can work through troubling issues
- Increased trust between you and your child
- Increased self-confidence and self-worth for your child
- It can increase your confidence in parenting
- Increase or repair your family's ability to have fun together
- Provide tools the family can use in the future
Your Involvement and Commitment:
- The first step is to meet with me either individually or with your partner for an initial session to
determine if filial therapy is right for you and your child.
- Then, we will meet 2-4 times to prepare you to do filial therapy
- When you are ready, you will hold special play sessions with your child in the office (or an alternate
arrangement such as videotaped sessions at home) for 2-10 weekly 1/2 hour sessions and then meet
with me following each session to debrief (typically 1/2 hour session).
- Eventually you will transfer the play sessions to your home. Once the sessions have moved to
your home, we will meet 4-10 times (on a weekly basis for 50 minutes each) to debrief and then
periodically to continue support of the play sessions as necessary.
- You will need a set of toys that are kept separate from your child's regular toys. They do not need
to be expensive toys, but they will need to be kept separate throughout the time period that you
use filial therapy. I will provide you with a list of suggestions at our first meeting.
I also offer a filial therapy group when I have a minimum of 4 families to start at the same time. I maintain a
waiting list for parents interested in the group filial therapy format. The group format provides the
additional benefit of peer support, suggestions, and feedback. The group format is a commitment of 10
weeks and once the group starts, no other members are allowed to join. The group format follows a
similar structure as the individual format:
- The first step is to meet with me either individually or with your partner for an initial session to
determine if filial therapy is right for you and your child.
- Then, you will meet in a group with other parents facilitated by me
- The first three group meetings are focused on preparing you to do filial therapy
- The remainder of the group sessions involve sharing your experiences of the filial sessions for
guidance, feedback, and support as well as continued education about ways to support your child.
- You will need a set of toys that are kept separate from your child's regular toys. They do not need
to be expensive toys, but they will need to be kept separate throughout the time period that you
use filial therapy. I will provide you with a list of suggestions at our first meeting.
Fees:
For individual filial therapy my rates are $65 for the initial session as well as all following 50-minute
sessions and $32.50 for each 1/2 hour session. I offer a sliding scale when needed.
My group rates are $65 for the initial session and $200 for the 10 week group. I offer a sliding scale
when needed.
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