Ordinary Life Therapy: Experiences from a Collaborative Systemic Practice

By Carina Hkansson and Carina Hakansson

Ordinary Life Therapy is anything but ordinary. The work described in this book is relational, collaborative, generative and constructionist. It is also clinically sound and exciting -- an extraordinary program. The ideas presented in this book challenge the foundations of mental illness healthcare as practiced in many places around the world. Carina describes an alternative and creative way of practicing the healing art of therapy. Rejecting diagnostic categories, drugs and institutional care, Carina shares the stories of several therapists in Sweden who work with and help severely troubled individuals by finding them "ordinary" family homes where they can live for a period of time. In these "family homes" they are treated with care and respect and over time they adjust to the life of the family. The program is designed to treat the client not as "an illness" but as a multi-faceted individual who is capable of becoming healthy. The book describes in intimate detail how people whose lives seemed ruined are helped and can re-enter society as full-fledged participants. The book invites the reader to explore therapy through ordinary life experiences. Carina H kansson is the founder and leader of Family Care Foundation. She is a social worker and a licensed psychotherapist. Her passion is to create networks with people in various ways and in different contexts to help to make life a bit better. She writes books and articles about the importance of using words and language in a humane and dignified way when meeting people in a professional context.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0981907628
• ISBN13: 9780981907628
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Taos Institute Publications
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"