Difficult familial circumstances increasingly threaten the development of children in such families. Intense family counselling is a type of assistance used by the Youth Office in such cases in order to avoid placing children in institutional or foster care. A methodical approach to this kind of counselling is the provision of psychoanalytic-pedagogical guidance on parenting. The psychoanalytic orientation responds to the clientele's often considerable psychological difficulties which tend to

more »

... pede cooperation. This thesis pursues the question of how to establish a working alliance for the counselling process in the face of such difficulties. A single-case study is conducted, carrying out observations and analysing the activities of a psychoanalytic-pedagogical parenting counsellor. Against the background of the theory set forth in the thesis, it will be discussed how these activities contribute to the establishment of a working alliance, and what obstacles stand in the way.