Feeling out of your depth as a parent? Are you a parent of an adolescent?
Would you like to support them more easily and looking for some psycho educational elements and practical tools that you can try at home?
Using my understanding of attachment theories such as Theraplay and DDP, I offer multiple tools to give you an insight to where connection points can be enhanced and really practical tools to get you and your teen or child to feel more connected.
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) has been devised by Dan Hughes and is used mostly in the area of children and their parents who have adopted and is approved by the Adoption Support Fund. DDP drew its origins from the original attachment theory devised by Winnicott and Bowlby in the 1960s. It draws its key concept from the Hughes model called PACE, Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy.
During an adoptive child’s life, some essential building blocks may be missing for multiple reasons such as trauma and neglect. This process gives parents an understanding of this and how to support and even develop these missing neural pathways. In addition, DDP explores the parents own attachment style and how parents may struggle to offer elements of support where their own needs were lacking. DDP brings insight into this process and supports parents in understanding this when working on increasing connection with their own adopted child.
DDP generally offers parents an initial block of sessions to ensure parents are really aware of their own triggers before introducing their child. In this way, by the time the child enters the space the therapist has two more co therapists. Over the next block, the role of the therapist is to facilitate increased connection between parents and the teen/child.
Theraplay was developed in the 70s and complements Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy. It offers really creative pathways to explore how parents offer its four tenets of Nurture, Engagement, Challenge and Structure. The process works by initially understanding a parents current approach as a parent. A practitioner devises a structured approach weekly is to support parents.
This approach is less verbal approach in that its access point is more in the emotional rather than the cognitive part of the brain. This process is generally offered over 20 sessions with the aim that parents take away really practical and specific tools. It is most commonly offered to 1-12 year olds however is offered to teens.
This approach is a less verbal approach in that its access point to the brain is more in the emotional than cognitive part of the brain. This process is generally offered over 20 sessions with the aim that parents take away really practical and specific tools. It is most commonly offered to 1-12 year olds. However it is also offered to teens.
I am now offering online sessions via Zoom, Skype, Facetime and calls. Please contact me for more information.