The Child’s System
One of the key activities during assessments and reviews of children is finding out who is in their lives and the significance of each relationship. Family tree exercises are limited in their ability to capture all of this information; people who you have blood relationships with are not necessarily the people you live with or people you feel closest to. Lynne generally likes to think about the child’s system.. This is helpful as the child can identify all the people that are in their lives and have a format to explore the positive and negative impacts these people have. This can help both parents and professionals to think about the relationships that are a cause for concern and also about those that are a source of resilience for the child. It can provide insight into the child’s understanding of their own role in relationships and the qualities that are important to them.
