Parenting Made Easier

We have inherited a so called "Parenting Manual"  from our parents and grandparents up until recent years.  Now, books, internet, seminars and lectures are coming to our aid. We learn new skills, new Do's and Don't and yet we still find parenting challenging.  As important as these resources are, they provide a generic response, sort of a one size fit all solutions. They specially fall short in helping us when we face difficult situations. A child with sensitive disposition, a child with medical issues, and a child with low tolerance to handle stressors, require more in-depth support. 

Children are treasure boxes with multiple key holes and sometime we can not find the right key to tap into their magnificence. 

I have developed a comprehensive  treatment protocol to find the right keys, custom-made for each treasure box.  I work collaboratively with the parents. We set  measurable and attainable small goals until the family's needs are met. 

The first session would be dedicated to collect information about the parents' concerns, the onset of the problem, if any, and the family constellation. The parents are the only participants in this session.   

The second session is dedicated to see the whole family. In this session,  I assess for any issues in the family dynamics. As an art therapist, I avoid talking about problems. Instead, I prepare fun and engaging art-making activities, as my  assessment tool. 

The third session is dedicated to go over my findings and the treatment protocol that I have planned for the therapy to go forward. Based on my findings, I would either do individual work, a dyadic one or a family therapy.  In this session, the parents and I will set measurable goals to achieve and the estimated time frame to achieve them.  The child is not present in this session.

Children are usually hesitant to disclose their thoughts and feelings when the parents are present. This usually happens when the child feels protective of the parent. He might feel that by sharing his feelings, he might either make the parent angry, sad or anxious.  They might also feel embarrassment if the parent gets annoyed by what they say. This is when the individual therapy works the best. 

Through my assessment process, I might find that the problem can be addressed best if I see the parent and child together. As an art therapist, I provide fun art-making activities to facilitate the session and enhance the parent-child relationship.  

Family Therapy is the best modality when the core of the problem is embedded in the relationship between the family members. For instance, one parent might have affinity for one child in particular, or resentful of the other one.  Family therapy is also recommended when the parents have difficulty setting boundaries. 

Parenting a difficult child is quite stressful.  As part of my treatment protocol,  by combining multiple modalities in conjunction with art therapy techniques, I help the parents develop a larger stress tolerance bandwidth in order to attain their desired goals successfully.