Lessons From ‘The Hitting Place’: Reflections of a Family Therapy Novice

This case study is an account of a post‐traumatic family attempting to come to terms with life after violence, and the effectiveness of family therapy in supporting this transition. The fighting between two young girls had maintained the violence in the family dynamic and their highly anxious adolescent brother remained unable to let go of his protective position and move forward with his own life. The backdrop of the case was a novice family therapist and a mother with borderline traits who found it difficult to keep the therapeutic work within the bounds of the therapy sessions. Despite these difficulties meaningful change could be seen after only seven sessions of family therapy.