Working with Families of Children Who Have Experienced Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is a universal public health issue. It is well established that parenting is implicated in both risk and resilience for child abuse and neglect. Thus, family-based interventions are significant for preventing and treating the psychological and developmental impact of child maltreatment. The aim of this chapter is to outline core competencies that clinicians should aspire to develop and strengthen to provide effective practice with families of children at risk for or exposed to maltreatment. To this end, we discuss scientific principles and evidence-informed strategies using a framework of three overarching competency domains underpinning therapeutic work in this field: (1) conceptualizing child maltreatment, (2) promoting wellbeing in families of children at risk for or exposed to maltreatment and (3) scientific and professional issues. We conclude by demonstrating the clinician competencies using a case illustration of a child presenting with complex trauma.