‘I want to be listened to’: systemic psychotherapy with a man with intellectual disabilities and his paid supporters

This paper contends that the systemic approach can be useful in working with adults with intellectual disabilities and their relational network, including paid care services. A practice example using a systemic approach with a man with intellectual disabilities and his paid supporters showed a movement from an internal description of the problem as existing in the man with intellectual disabilities to a focus on coordinating the relationship between the man and his paid supporters. The authors argue for the utility of the systemic approach in working with those who live and work in services for people with intellectual disabilities and who may not have had access to these kinds of conversation in the past.