Handle challenging situations more effectively
Parenting Consultations
Parent consultations can teach you how to handle challenging situations more effectively; decreasing problematic behaviors in your child and increasing your ability to respond calmly and appropriately. Our clinicians serve as educational and supportive resources for you, teaching you new ways to communicate that positively impact your family relationships.
We address your own anxieties, frustrations, and coping styles, and you’ll gain a greater understanding of your child so you’re able to more skillfully respond to their needs. Parenting sessions are not to determine diagnoses for children/parents or to provide specific treatment, but rather to equip you with parenting strategies customized to support your unique child.
Parenting consultations are offered to parents of children and teens who are already in therapy with us, or to parents whose children are not or refuse to be in therapy. There is strong research to support that working with parents, even without the child, can positively impact child functioning.
Consultations can address a wide range of issues, including:
- Temperament
- Child development phases
- Communication strategies
- Family dynamics
- Relationships with siblings and peers
- Establishing routines
- Discipline and boundaries
- Increasing positive attention
- Setting expectations
- Behavioral training
- Strengthening the parent-child relationship
Parenting a Child Who Struggles is Painful
Parents are an Integral Part of Treatment at The Ross Center
We strongly value parental input, and collaborate with parents to ensure that your child is making progress toward their goals. Your child’s clinician will teach you tools and strategies that are consistent with the therapies we are using to help your child. In addition, you’ll be provided with recommendations on how best to respond to your child and methods to minimize your own stress.
For example, with an anxious child, a concerned parent’s first reaction to reassure the child can often inadvertently make that anxiety worse. We’ll provide you with evidence-based strategies and suggestions for more effective ways to respond. Another child issue in which parent intervention is often the first line is ADHD, especially for young children. We often see parents independently of young children with ADHD, to reduce the impact of a child’s ADHD on the family’s life.
At times, parents may require therapy sessions without the child present, to request guidance and vent frustrations. Parents can meet for a one-time consultation, a few sessions, or on a weekly basis. The Ross Center also frequently offers parenting webinars and programs where you can learn from expert therapists on a variety of topics.
Specialized Parent Training:
Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)
We are now offering a new, parent-based treatment to address child and adolescent anxiety called SPACE. This novel approach was developed at the Yale Child Study Center by Dr. Eli Lebowitz, and is a systematic program that teaches parents how to supportively and appropriately respond to their child’s anxiety through changes in their own behaviors. By reducing an ‘accommodating’ approach to a child’s anxiety, parents are able to engage in a manner that ultimately enhances the child’s ability to cope with anxious thoughts and feelings.
Parents are taught to calmly accept a child’s distress, while avoiding reactions that exacerbate symptoms, resulting in significant improvements to their anxiety. You can schedule an appointment with one of our SPACE-trained therapists or join one of our SPACE groups. Learn more about SPACE treatment here. We are offering new 7-week (virtual) SPACE groups for parents of anxious children. Find out more about this group.
Specialized Parent Training: Parent Child Interactive Training (PCIT)
What is PCIT?
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (or PCIT) is a short-term, evidence-based therapy for young children (ages 2-7) with disruptive behaviors. In PCIT, parents are taught skills to support their child during live coaching sessions with a Ross Center PCIT-trained child therapist. Parents practice a set of skills on how to navigate tough situations, learning to respond in a consistent, adaptive way when the behavior happens. Good habits and positive behavioral patterns are developed that reduce the incidence of problem behaviors and leave parents with a playbook and a set of skills that they can rely on as their child gets older. At The Ross Center, PCIT is delivered via telehealth so the parent/child interaction is observed directly in the child’s home.
How is PCIT Structured?
Throughout the treatment process, the therapist provides live coaching to parents as they learn and practice skills with their child during the appointment. The therapist provides live coaching to the parent through Bluetooth headphones as they observe the parent interacting with their child. Skills are developed over two treatment phases.
During the initial phase of treatment, parents are taught proven strategies to reinforce desired behaviors in their child and how to avoid arguments and power struggles with them. In the second phase, parents learn to manage their child’s disruptive behaviors and set limits effectively. Since coaching is provided in the moment, our therapists can be flexible in providing approaches to use specifically for your child’s challenging behaviors. You will learn tailored behavior management strategies that work for your family.
PCIT is most often limited to 12 – 14 sessions.
Who is PCIT appropriate for?
Children who can benefit from PCIT typically exhibit these behaviors:
- Difficulty following directions and listening
- Low frustration tolerance
- Frequent tantrums
- Disruptive behaviors in public or at school
- Negative attention-seeking behaviors
- Problematic social skills
- What can families expect to gain?
Parents gain confidence in their own behavioral management skills and a toolkit to use when challenging behaviors arise. Children build self-esteem and more adaptive behavioral patterns that have long-term impact. PCIT reduces parental stress and enhances your child’s ability to interact with others at home and school.
Read this BLOG POST from Dr. Tannoia to further understand how Internet-based PCIT works. To learn more about PCIT and set up an appointment with one of our PCIT trained therapists, please contact us.
Ross Center Resources Geared to Parents
Does My Child Need Counseling?
It is better to seek care earlier if your child is struggling.
Helping your Children Manage Back to School Anxiety
It’s time to go back to school. Learn strategies to help reduce your children’s anxiety and prepare for a successful new year.
Is your Child Struggling with Mental Health? Wise Words from an Esteemed Psychiatrist
Managing Family Stress This Winter
Trusted for over 30 Years
Clinicians who provide Parent Consultations
Groups And Events Geared to Parents:
7 Week Sessions.
