An Overview of Using Stories and Children’s Therapy Books, Interventions for Better Child and Family Therapy

Families face considerable and unique challenges such as addiction, domestic violence, trauma, grief, community violence, and economic struggles. Unique challenges require tailored interventions that children’s therapy books and other written stories can offer to meet the needs of the family and children.

This course will review information on using therapy books in clinical practice with families, youths, and children. Work in the course will include processing common questions and discussion points which most therapists have concerns for. Work includes finding good therapy books that will be able to be used in settings with children, teens, and caregivers. Further discussion points will include processing counselor concerns about using therapy books.

• Learner will be able to identify a common fear counselors have in using children’s therapy books
• Learner will be able to identify one intervention for overcoming their own fear of using children’s therapy books in session
• Learner will be able to understand how to avoid dangers in using therapy books
• Learner will be able to understand how stories can impact children in a therapeutic setting
• Learner will be able to understand how to provide therapy books as homework for sessions.

Leo DeBroeck is a Mental Health Practitioner and Child Mental Health Specialist in Washington State (USA). He is CBT Plus certified through the University of Washington and Harborview Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress Centre. He has completed his Masters of Science in Clinical Psychology at Eastern Washington University with his thesis on factors in suicide. He has experience working with children and adolescents at an intensive inpatient program in Spokane, Washington for several years.

Leo works full-time at a community health centre as a therapist with a team of  Marriage and Family Therapists,  Clinical Social Workers, Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners, and Psychologists. He has worked in several different levels of care for mental health treatment including long-term inpatient care, WISE wraparound intensive services, school-based therapy services, and outpatient clinical settings. He also works as a quarterly faculty lecturer for Eastern Washington University’s satellite campus at Bellevue College. He teaches night classes to graduate and undergraduates in foundations of psychotherapy, trauma: assessment, management, and treatment, cognitive and behaviour change, and others. He has published peer-reviewed scientific research on young adults related to suicidality.

He has written several children’s therapy books, which are published on Amazon, for use in therapy settings addressing grief, addiction, neglect, abuse, and others. He is the president and founder of Counsellor’s Choice Award, LLC which reviews and promotes scientifically validated therapeutic tools and books.

This online workshop will give you instant access to video content, accessible via streaming on our website. This course also includes PowerPoint slides and downloadable research/references and additional handouts and resources you can use in your practice. You can view the course content in your own time, there is no time limit on access.

The duration of this workshop is 1 learning hour.

A certificate of completion will be generated upon finishing the course and completing a short evaluation quiz. Please consult your professional organisation/association to confirm whether you are able to claim any CPD points/hours for this online workshop.