Parent Consultation

About parent consultation

At Play Therapy House, we believe it is an important part of a child’s progress to have parent/s or guardian/s involved in the therapeutic process. Parent Consultations are meetings between the counselor and caregivers to discuss the goals and progress of the child. It is helpful for the counselor to hear how the child functions outside of the playroom. These meetings are a great time to share any changes at school, home, or within the community. It is also an appropriate time for the counselor and parent to team up to create parenting strategies or possible solutions for supporting the child.

Before we meet with your child or teen, we will first meet with you to complete intake paperwork and other necessary documentation. In this initial consultation, we will go over the history of the presenting problem to ensure that therapy is a good fit for your child. Working together, we will set up appropriate and attainable goals, discuss the structure and process of play, and explore ways to use your child’s strengths in therapy. During the first parent consultation we will set an appointment for your child’s first play therapy session.

Parent Consultations continue throughout the time your child is in therapy. Generally, we meet with parents every 6-7 sessions. This is always flexible based on need, and the parent and therapist can determine if more frequent parent consults would be helpful. These meetings are the perfect place to bring up any concerns, discuss progress and goals, and talk about parenting wins and challenges. Your child’s counselor will share any themes arising in therapy, and progress towards goals. Parent consultations are a fantastic way to help the supporters of the child come together and check in on what’s working and better ways to support the child.

Please note that minors over the age of 14 are legally allowed to seek counseling services without parental consent. This means that if your child is 14 or older, the therapist will use discretion in sharing confidential information with parents in a consultation. Often, the therapist will ask the teen what he or she wishes to share, and work on ways to improve communication between family members so that the child eventually feels comfortable addressing these issues at home. Of course, counselors are legally obligated to report issues such as harm to self or others, suspected child abuse, and suicidality. If these issues should arise with your child or older teen, you can be sure that your therapist’s first priority is your child’s safety, and the appropriate individuals or agencies will be notified.

How to support your child at home

Parent consultations are an excellent way to support your child in the therapeutic process. Here are some strategies for supporting your child outside of therapy:

Be Consistent. If possible, set a consistent weekly time for therapy. This helps to give your child a sense of predictability and consistency that can increase levels of trust and rapport in the counseling relationship.

Talk about play therapy. Let your child know what play therapy is and what to expect (we have book recommendations and love to discuss a developmentally appropriate way to discuss this with your kids in the first parent consultation).

Let your kids use therapy in the way they want. As challenging as it may be, we believe that kids bring to therapy exactly what they are ready to work through. Even though it may be tempting to encourage them to discuss that meltdown at the bus stop, or that tantrum at bedtime, trust the process and know that your child will bring up exactly what they need to in therapy.

Avoid pressing for information. We know you care about your child’s process, but if possible try to avoid asking them questions about therapy immediately after. Sometimes the ride home or some quiet time gives the child a chance to regulate and digest what was processed in therapy. If it’s really hard not to ask you can always invite them by saying “if you want to talk about play therapy today I am here to listen.” We see the most progress when parents respect the confidentiality that happens in therapy but also welcome the child to share with them when they are ready to do so.

Increase feelings language at home. This can be as simple as modeling the way you are feeling throughout the day. Statements like, “I was really frustrated when that happened,” or “wow that was a little bit scary,” can show kids that we all have emotions, and all emotions are ok. Another challenge is to increase your feeling reflections with your kids. This means taking the time to notice what your child is feeling and telling them things like, “you seem sad/happy/nervous/excited right now.”

Develop special play time with each of your children We know that parents have busy schedules, but even 15 minutes of individual play time each week can make a huge difference in a child’s emotional world. If possible, try to let your child guide the play time and be sure to put away phones/electronics too!

Seek support. Parenting is difficult, and we all need help sometimes. If you feel doing your own counseling could be beneficial, let us know and we can help give referrals. It can really help normalize therapy to a child if mom or dad are also going to a safe place to talk about their feelings.