Child parent psychotherapy is a relationship-based psychological therapy practiced at Serene Trails Therapy of Wellington, Florida. It is a dyadic treatment that is supposed to be for children and parents. This treatment helps restore normal functioning after a traumatic incident has occurred, or it can also be used after a case of domestic violence. Some psychotherapists also refer to this as infant-parent psychotherapy when an infant is involved, while child-parent psychotherapy is mainly used for cases of family violence.
What Does Child-Parent Psychotherapy Focus On?
For the most part, the therapy focuses on restoring any relationships that have been torn apart, or have been negatively influenced by trauma or violence. It aims to establish a sense of trust and safety for both children and parents. It can also address the trauma or a specific event that both children and parents share.
Originally, this therapy was designed for parents and children who have gone through different cases of domestic violence. Both infant-parent psychotherapy and child-parent psychotherapy are based on psychoanalysis and attachment theory. They combine various principles from several theories, including:
- Psychodynamic
- Social learning
- Trauma
- Behavioral
- Development
This helps both children and parents recover from any past exposure to trauma and violence.
Goals and Process
The goals of child-parent psychotherapy are to strengthen the relationship between a parent and a child, so the parent understands the needs of the child better. This, in turn, helps improve the child’s emotional health, which also improves their ability to learn and be social with other kids of the same age.
Usually, trauma can adversely affect a child’s emotional and cognitive functioning, particularly if they get to experience this in their early years. That is why the process behind child-parent psychotherapy focuses on recreating a healthy bond between the child and the caregiver so that the child can start trusting their parents again.
What Kinds Of Services Can You Expect?
Every session of child-parent psychotherapy focuses on interactions between children and their parents to foster healthy coping mechanisms. Initially, there’s an assessment in which there are individual assessments with the parents.
This session takes place to discuss the upcoming findings and to talk about the treatment that is going to take place. Once this is done, it’s time to start planning how this treatment will be explained to the children or child.
Once the child knows what’s going to happen, there are weekly parent and child sessions that will continue with individual parent sessions. Every session is going to focus on getting rid of toxic behaviors and replacing them with developmental interactions that are positive for the child’s overall personality.
These sessions will help both child and parent to create a narrative of any violence or trauma which will eventually help them work their way towards a solution.
While child-parent psychotherapy can be achieved with the help of various therapeutic sessions, it particularly focuses on the interaction between the child and the parent. If there’s any disruption threatening the family (a child being removed from the house perhaps) then assistance can be provided for case management, crisis intervention, or for any problem that the parents may face. This ensures that the family’s well-being remains the priority.
The Structure of Child-Parent Psychotherapy Sessions
Typically, in the first child-parent psychotherapy session, the parent and therapist discuss the findings of the assessment. These sessions focus on changing unhelpful and unhealthy behaviors.
Depending on how severe the case of trauma is, the sessions can also focus on safety and also include referrals to other services. For instance, there may also be a need to remove the child from the home or for external intervention.
These sessions can also focus on emotional regulation and increased back-and-forth communication between the child and the parent. Some other things that can be included are:
- Child and parent boundary setting and a clarification of roles
- Information on how children handle an emotional reaction
- Emotion labeling
- Pointing out different instances of love between parent and child
- Tips on how a parent should respond when the child is sad
The Benefits of Child-Parent Psychotherapy
- Reduces a child’s trauma symptoms
- Reduces a child’s feelings of sadness
- Strengthens a child’s ability to manage emotions
- Improves the child’s reasoning skills
Serene Trails Can Help
There are many ways that child-parent psychotherapy can be used to improve the mental health of both parents and children. This type of therapy is just one of many that Brittany Rice, MSW, LCSW uses here at Serene Trails Therapy of Wellington, Florida.
To learn more about child-parent psychotherapy or our other options, visit us here or give us a call at 561-335-6658.
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Have questions? Contact Serene Trails Therapy for a free phone consultation.