Having listened in to the conversation between the professionals, the family would be asked what struck them about what they heard. Even if they didn't say much, or anything, they were put in the novel position of being consultants to their consultants. This layering process seemed to open a window through which the most interesting ideas would stream, as well as creating a sense of trust and shared optimism. The oneway screen pretty well collapsed as a result of all this sharing. Of course, this type of procedure makes professionals careful about what they say in front of the persons consulting them.
Clinical language takes a beating.
The image that I use to describe this process is kneading yeast dough. You have to fold over the dough over and over again, and as you do that it stops being an inert sticky mass of yeast and water and flour and becomes alive. You know when this has happened, because the dough begins to resist your hands. If you try to poke your finger into it, the hole just fills back up. This is a kind of work that some postmodernists are calling social poetics.