Parents and Families

Working with Parents

Parents are the key to the child's improvement. Communicating and working with parents is essential for successfully helping a child.

My work with parents can include

parent-child play therapy or family therapy
helping parents design a home program or "floor time" (as Stanley Greenspan has called it) for them to work with their child at home
understanding a child’s behavior and development
recommendations for school placement and educational needs
attending meetings at school with parents for support and advocacy
recommendations for behavior management and education issues
behavior charting for home or school
planning for the next stage of development

Some problems can best be helped by seeing parents and children together. Parent-child play sessions are possible, as well as parent-child problem-solving through negotiation of limits or behavior management. Family sessions in the playroom can help siblings with their relationship, and can help parents and children understand each other.

Sometimes parents and children can benefit from "coaching;" for example, when there are conflicts over homework, it can sometimes be helpful for the parent and child to bring homework to a session and work on the problem.

I have also done many home and school visits, when additional observation is needed.