Christy mcmurren posted:In my experience, effectiveness of any intervention requires a paradigm shift in the thinking of the provider. The shift is from a compliance model for which there are behavioral consequences to a model that considers safety vs threat. There is a parenting program I like called "Hand in Hand Parenting" and they use a "stay listening" technique that promotes relational safety. Most of us grew up in a compliance model of parenting. It takes a lot of reflection and practice to make the shift from our automatic response of needing compliance to an automatic response of promoting relationship. And I would say, having an Occupational Therapist who can give you ideas about how to promote regulation in the body is a must!
Thank you Christy. I like to think that if there were policies for staff such as:
"allow the child to have tv on at night - this may be the only thing that gives comfort to this child in this scary, strange place",
"allow child to take their time with transitions - transitions are difficult for these kids"
that staff would stop causing patient escalations.
BUT, You make a good point in that the paradigm shift ultimately needs to occur because it will be impossible to create policies to address the myriad of scenarios that may present themselves throughout a day (with children interacting with other/new children and staff each day).
I also was not aware of the "Hand in Hand Parenting"/staylistening. I like what I'm reading .... seems to be similar to the "time-in" and other connection based suggestions recommended for kids with trauma. Thank you so much!