Support for Therapeutic Parenting

Therapeutic parenting is a set of strategies for responding to a child's behavior in a way that helps the child establish safety, security, connectedness, and self-worth. I help parents better understand the mind of their child so they can choose interventions that meet the child’s developmental and emotional needs. Throughout treatment, parents learn and practice therapeutic interventions to address problem behaviors. I provide training and ongoing support of the use of these strategies, which are presented in a manual at the beginning of treatment. Tailoring the therapeutic parenting interventions to fit a child’s unique needs is an evolving and dynamic process, in which parents and I must actively work together. I coach, role-play, model, and use examples to assist parents in understanding when and how to apply the interventions in their daily lives. I do not use or endorse coercive techniques or interventions that are compliance-based.

Maintaining a cohesive parental unit is essential for creating stability in a child's environment. It is not uncommon for parents to state that the challenges of parenting the child negatively affected their marriage. I understand how parenting difficulty and stress contributes to spousal discord. Sometimes it is necessary to address issues within the couples’ relationship and provide treatment to help couples restore their ability to work with and for each other. Often I work with parents on an individual basis to develop the internal resources to manage the stressful demands of therapeutic parenting a child with mental health needs.

Also, check out our parenting manual: A Guide to Therapeutic Parenting