Parent-Child Relationship: Assessment and Care

Many clinicians hear stories from their adult clients about their stress as parents and concerns about their children. Screening to decide if and when these children may be in need of mental health referral and how to support the healing of the parent-child dyad can be challenging. This course will bolster the clinician’s confidence and competence in assessing the need for further support and broaching this difficult topic with parents. Participants will learn how to identify risk factors and protective factors for intervening in a strained parent-child relationship. Clinicians will gain understanding of the benefits of dyadic treatment, how to assess the parent-child relationship, strategies to strengthen the parent-child dyad, ways to minimize parental stress, and recommended treatment models. Cultural considerations and work with parents whose children have physical differences and neurodivergencies will be addressed. Case vignettes and practical applications will support participants with case conceptualization and treatment planning.

*Content Advisory: To protect client confidentiality, case examples include fictionalized elements and names have been changed.

2 hours CE. Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 2.13 hours 

CE CREDITS: 2.00 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Introductory

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE: 5/19/2023

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Describe at least four risk and protective factors for strained parent-child relationships
• Provide at least three examples of the benefits of dyadic treatment
• Understand how to apply a minimum of two strategies for effectively assessing the need for either child or dyadic intervention
• Identify at least three effective strategies to strengthen the parent-child relationship and minimize parental stress
• Demonstrate knowledge of how to broach the topic of child and/or dyadic recommendation for treatment

1. Identifying a strained parent-child dyad/ child need for treatment
   1. Risk factors
   2. Protective factors
   3. "Angels and Ghosts in the Nursery"
   4. Countertransference issues
2. How to assess the child and dyad
1. Working with children of different ages/developmental stages
2. Setting up observations
3. Asking informed questions
4. Case vignettes and practical applications
3. Benefits of Dyadic Treatment
1. Co-regulation
2. Increased self-esteem of parent
3. Enhanced mental health functioning of both parent and child
4. Broaching the topic of child and/or dyadic treatment
1. Strategies to promote parent buy-in to treatment for dyad and/or child
2. Working with patients with neurodivergence, physical differences, and cultural considerations
3. Legal and ethical considerations
4. Accessing appropriate care and recommending parent-child treatment models