There are few books out there that take a difficult subject like child and family social work and give due attention to exactly what skilful professional practice looks like. This book does just that. To work for 20 years on helpfulness is a considerable achievement and to do this by observing, and listening to practitioners means that social workers now have access to a classic text. If you want to develop your skills then this is a book to consult and to treasure. -- Steve Rollnick, joint creator of Motivational Interviewing, and Honorary Distinguished Professor in the School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Wales
The most positive book for Children and Families social work I have read in a long time. Motivational Interviewing provides a practice model that fits really well with our professional ethics and our UK legal context. Explaining complex psychological processes in a deceptively simple way, this is a great guide to creating change in families to better safeguard children. It's a book practitioners at all levels of skill can come back to for guidance and is essential reading also for those working in social work education, sector leaders and policy makers. MI is increasingly creating more confidence in UK social workers that they can help families to achieve change for their children. This book gives me grounds for optimism it can help steer our practice away from a focus on risk and blame and towards humanistic, strengths based practice that keeps more children and families together, safely. I just loved it. -- Sue Williams, Programme Director, Strengthening Families/Family Safeguarding, Hertfordshire County Council
This important book draws on 20 years of research into motivational interviewing and actual conversations between child protection practitioners and service users to show the ways helpful communication is achieved and why it works. This includes valuable insights into how to talk effectively with and enable change for people who are ambivalent or want nothing to do with social work involvement. This genuinely helpful book is essential reading for all professionals involved in child protection and child and family work more generally. -- Harry Ferguson, Professor of Social Work, University of Birmingham
