Parents as agents of change: what filial therapy has to offer

The Family Journal, 2007

According to the most recent U.S. Surgeon General's report on mental health, it is crucial for family counselors to use parents and families as partners in delivery of mental health services for children. Filial therapy, a unique, evidenced-based approach, may be useful for fulfilling the aforementioned mandate because filial therapy teaches parents to be the primary therapeutic agent of change in the lives of their children. This article overviews the basic principles and procedures of filial therapy training and provides a case study illustrating this strategy for building strong parent-child relationships.

US-China Education Review, 2009

Single parenthood as a common psychosocial phenomenon seems to be regarded as one of the most significant issues in the psychological domain and needs to be taken into serious consideration due to emotional, psychological, and social problems created by it. With regard to the rapidly growing population of single parents and their children experiencing relationship-based problems, interventions which deal with relational issues are worth in-depth explorations. This study was primarily concerned with the betterment of single parent-child relationships. For the purpose of this research, a case study was conducted to probe into the impact of filial therapy-a relationship-enhancement family/play therapy-on (1) reducing children' problem behaviors, and (2) ameliorating parent-child dysfunctional relationships through improving parenting knowledge and skills. The intended data for the study was gathered through (1) pre-post play observation, (2) parent's self-reports, and (3) the reports obtained from a kindergarten trainer. The outcomes of this one-month long case study revealed that filial therapy has the potentiality in enhancing and rebuilding parent-child relationships through teaching single parents the skills necessary for coping with the problems accelerated by the newly developed situation, which might be seen as a result of single parenthood (e.g., childhood problem behaviors, parent-child relational problems, lack of adequate parenting knowledge and skills). In the end, this article concludes a few suggestions for future studies in this field.

International Journal of Play Therapy, 2008

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (ANZJFT), 2011

This article describes Filial Therapy, a structured and straightforward approach to working with parents and young children in family therapy; it highlights the congruence between Filial Therapy and the values and principles of family therapy. The historical, theoretical and research foundations of Filial Therapy are described. The family science and child socialisation literatures are also briefly reviewed, linking key predictors of positive child outcome with the goals of Filial Therapy. Finally, we discuss the consistencies between Filial Therapy and experiential and structural models of family therapy. We conclude with a description of Filial Therapy followed by a case example to illustrate the process.

International Journal of Play Therapy, 2011

The present study investigated parent and child factors that predict outcome in a filial therapy program for parents (N ϭ 27) and young children (ages 2-10). Higher levels of parent distress and poorer child regulation of emotion at pretest were predictive of greater reductions in child behavior problems; poorer parent regulation of emotion at pretest was predictive of greater increases in parent acceptance; and less parent satisfaction with social support from family and friends at pretest was predictive of greater increases in parent communication of acceptance in parent-child play. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Cultural considerations and implications are also discussed.

This project provides a comprehensive review of the academic literature available on filial therapy (FT) and concludes by offering a facilitators' manual composed of eight lesson plans to implement FT in a group therapy approach. FT, a derivative of childcentred play therapy (Kolos, Green, & Crenshaw, 2009), is a counselling intervention in which a counsellor trains parents or other caregivers to hold at-home, child-centred play sessions with the child, with the goal to enhance and strengthen the parent-child relationship (Landreth, 2002; VanFleet, 2005). Since FT is recently gaining popularity and increased usage in the counselling realm, counsellors may seek to augment their clinical experience and knowledge of FT. The intent of this project is to increase awareness of the FT intervention and to provide a group counselling manual in the area of FT. v Acknowledgements First and foremost, I wish to thank Dr. Dawn McBride. Your motivation to encourage me when times got tough, coupled with your knowledge and enthusiastic attitude are true assets that you provide and role-model to those who are fortunate enough to work closely with you. Dawn, your guidance throughout the many stages of this project was paramount in the completion of this project. Acknowledgement is also owed to Marcia Rich, who has been a long-time rolemodel in my career. I continue to look up to you as an inspirational counsellor and professional. Your willingness to be a part of this project as a committee member was appreciated wholeheartedly. Finally, thank you to Shanaya Nelson. Your attention to detail and writing suggestions were deeply valued. Your assistance was appreciated-and the many !'s which kept me trekking! vi Table of Contents

Abstract book of the 19th European Conference on Developmental Psychology. Athens 29 August - 1 September. , 2019

Low-income families are often struggling with recurrent multiple problems, and disruptive family interactions. This exploratory longitudinal study aims to 1) described a group of families from a project neighborhood 2) evaluate a family-centered dyadicplay intervention thought to stimulate mother-child interactions and parenting skills. Semi-structured clinical interviews were conducted with 9 mothers (mean age 31) of 4 toddler boys and 5 girls (mean age 2.2), mostly from a single mother or blended families. Mothers studied 9 years or less, 78% were unemployed. Participation procedures and consent forms followed ethical standards. Measurements application and sessions occurred in a private play room in a community center. Interviews were transcribed and submitted to phenomenological (PA) and lexical analysis (LA). Mothers answered Parenting Authority Questionnaire for parents (PAQ-P) at T0/T2. The 14 weekly 50’ sessions of dyadic play intervention, were videotaped in 5’ situations 1) free play, 2) guided play, 3) the clear up task at three T and coded with DPICS. PA revealed three central themes: family life; history; parenting (family of origin, abusive relations; pregnancy; parenting behavior). Themes corroborated by LA classes: Parenting concerns/dyadic interactions; changes in family life; conflict/ trauma/ violence; family type; family day-to-day interactions. Mothers consider themselves authoritative, however authoritarian scores are above standardized mean (P90). No differences were found between assessments, still an increase tendency in mothers’ positive communication was observed. Significant differences were found between situations in Information question/answer in (1) and direct and indirect order with compliance in (2/3). Mothers, exposed themes of conflict, violence experiences and trauma, but also common parenting concerns. Mix-method provide a closer description of family reality and difficulties, relevant for implementing family-centered interventions. Although with few significant results, changes in positive communication were observed. By playing together in a secured mediated setting, mothers can experience freely pleasure in interactions, while enhancing parenting skills.

The purpose of our study was to understand, document, and report conservative Christian parents' perceptions of the effectiveness of an intensive 5-week filial therapy program, ChildϪParent Relationship Therapy (CPRT). A transcendental phenomenological approach (C. Moustakas, 1994, Phenomenological Research Methods, Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage) was used to gather, analyze, and report the findings from this study. A 14-question, semistructured interview was used with 10 parent participants to ascertain the parents' perceptions of the CPRT model. Overall, the parents thought the CPRT model was effective and had a positive change on the parent-child relationship and behavior problems the child was experiencing. Several techniques and interventions were described by the parents as the most helpful and beneficial. The results of our study suggest that CPRT may be effective for conservative Christian parents when certain modifications are made. The themes that emerged may be used to provide alternative methods to assist clients who hold conservative Christian beliefs.