Effective Approaches and Practices to Counselling When Working With Adolescents Who Are Impacted by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: A Therapist's Perspective

Abstract

The following research study gains insight into what practices, approaches, and interventions to counselling are effective when working with adolescents who are impacted by prenatal alcohol exposure. A comprehensive literature review explored the use of psychotherapy among adolescents, the complexities of FASD, and four guiding principles of therapy: structure of therapy, qualities of the therapist, therapeutic relationship, and modality of therapy. A qualitative research approach was adopted to achieve an understanding of how private practitioners experience their therapeutic work with adolescents who have FASD and explored from their perspectives what is, and what is not, helpful when facilitating therapy with this client population. The inspiration and foundation of this study was based on the philosophy of facilitating therapy effectively for adolescents who are impacted by FASD.