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From: Ellen-Marie Silverman
Date: 10 Oct 2012
Time: 14:13:15 -0500
Remote Name: 76.228.192.184
[[I believe getting the family involved is vital. As clinicians, we may give children all the tools we have but if there is no carryover, the results will not be as successful.]] Diana, thank you for your posting. But before I respond directly to your implied question about how/when/for how long to incorporate family members or other caregivers into a treatment program for a child, I invite you to look at Haley's post and at Kelly's as well and my replys to both of them. I think you will find that some of the direction you are seeking from me may be included in what I wrote them. /// I think you already may know that not all family members and not all caregivers make good auxillary therapists. So, if you convince yourself that it is in the best interests of a child you are providing services for to do extra work outside of the therapy room/clinic, then you need to determine who or which family members or caregivers are capable of providing the supplemental oversight you believe important and whether or not doing so might possibly interfere with their primary role as parent or caregiver. Some believe, as I do, that the role of parent or caregiver is a special one not to be confused with that of teacher or therapist. If it is difficult for a parent or caregiver to take on both roles without distorting in an unhelpful way their primary role of parent or caregiver, then you might want to include them in a program to do whatever you all believe is necessary for the child to benefit from being a client. Then you will want to properly instruct the parent or caregiver to carry-out their role of auxillary therapist, perhaps, having them perform it in the therapy room/clinic/or at their home under your direct supervision. /// Of course, caseload demands being what they are for many who work in the schools, this next suggestion may be undoable and that is to temporarily increase the amount of time you provide therapy to a given child from time-t-to-time and, perhaps, spend some of that additional time in situation outside therapy sessions where the child spends time, such as in a classroom or at home, so that you, a trained professional, can maintain the structure of therapy necessary to provide a coherent, helpful service. /// Best wishes to you, Diana. Ellen-Marie Silverman