Building Alliances in Youth Care: Multiple Perspectives on Working Conversational Elements

ABSTRACT Home‐based family support helps families with complex behavioural and parenting challenges. A strong working alliance between clients and professionals is crucial for achieving positive outcomes from support, but building such partnerships can be complicated, especially when multiple family members are involved. This study examines the conversational actions Dutch family support workers (FSWs) use to strengthen these multiple alliances. A qualitative, multi‐informant approach was employed, analysing 18 video recordings of six FSWs interacting with family members (nine cases). These recordings were discussed in 36 stimulated recall interviews. The resulting data were analysed using ATLAS.ti and validated in meetings with the FSWs, experts by experience and subject experts. The findings were organized into a model with nine clusters based on two dimensions: realizing a bond and realizing agreement. These clusters reflect the importance of FSWs managing multiple perspectives through specific conversational strategies. The study emphasizes participative sense‐making, or maintaining connection with all parties involved, and goal‐oriented alignment, or achieving consensus on shared goals and joint reflection on the process and outcomes. These findings can help FSWs reflect on and improve their practice. The study also recommends using video as a tool for professional development and calls for further research into optimizing strategies for building multiple alliances in practice.