The Family,The Statutory Worker and the Therapist Working Together for Change

Myths have developed for some therapists and statutory workers that have prevented or interfered with their forming a satisfactory working relationship. In such a climate, families tend to remain confused and disempowered and become more dependent on the authority of the legal and statutory system. This paper describes work with one particular family and a local Community Services, Victoria social worker, where these issues were addressed in a way that allowed the workers to be clear about their roles and enabled the parents to resume their responsibility for parenting. The emphasis in this article is on practice issues.