Latisha Lister’s parents frequently had extended family and friends living with them when she was growing up. As a result, the term family represented more to her than just her immediate relatives her parents and siblings.Fascinated by the family dynamic she obtained a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Philadelphia’s Drexel University. She returned home in 2008 and was hired as a family therapist at Child and Adolescent Services.“I was always fascinated in families the makeup of families, what makes the family tick, what works and what doesn’t work,” she said.What does a family therapist do that’s different from a social worker or psychologist?According to Ms Lister, the discipline is geared to helping people change their perspective. She said with her undergraduate degree in family studies, most of the work she found in Bermuda centred on social work and case management.“I liked what I was doing but I didn’t feel that I necessarily got the chance to impact someone’s thinking,” she said. “I could affect their life but I couldn’t change their thinking and in the end, that’s what really changes someone’s life.“So when I decided to go back to school, I decided I wanted to do therapy. I wanted to do a form of counselling so that I could help people think about [their life structure and what it meant].”As a therapist at Child and Adolescent Services, children are her focus. Parental consent must be given before she can see a child. Those over the age of 14 can meet with her once without the consent of their parents subsequent meetings can only take place if their parents sanction it.“We get referrals from concerned citizens, cousins, aunties, uncles, but if the parent doesn’t agree we can’t do anything,” she said. ”We cannot even meet with the child. We are allowed to do a one-off with any child over 14 who is in distress but after that there needs to be parental consent. “Ms Lister believes that talking with parents and respecting them can go a long way to gaining their trust and permission to work with their children. “I do have a case where a child recognises that she comes from a very abusive family,” she said. “She is not doing well with living her life within the constraints that she has right now, so she called us.”Ms Lister said the client, in her late teens, was upset to learn that she needed parental approval.“I had a chat with the parents and explained that they could refuse to meet with me but that clearly the child needs something and that if she did not get something she would live a life of dysfunction,” she said. “They refused to participate but they allowed me to see the child.”Ms Lister meets with this client at her school at present it’s her most supportive environment.“Because her parents refuse to engage in any way, it’s a good referral to me because I recognise that what’s driving around her is family dysfunction,” she said.In the majority of cases Ms Lister is able to meet with children and their parents or guardians.“At any given moment my caseload is more than it appears,” she said. “If I’m seeing ten children really I have at least 50 because I am [also] seeing aunty, if you are living with aunty, or grandma, if grandma is upset.“I never really have just ‘a’ child, I also have everyone connected to the child.“What the child is doing has to match what I am doing with the parent so there are some times that I have family sessions. Sometimes I break it apart. It really depends on the family. From day to day I’m in children’s schools, I’m at the office, I’m in their homes.”The child is her priority through all the meetings, Ms Lister said.“I tell parents that at the end of the day you might not like me, but my job is to keep your children safe. My job is to keep your child emotionally well. My job is to work out what works best for your family.“This doesn’t guarantee that you will like me, but it does guarantee that I will work really hard to make it work.”