5 Parenting Tools That Connect & Heal

Description

**This is a recording of a Live Presentation given at the Institute of Child Psychology’s 2021 Children’s Mental Health Conference. As it is a Live recording, please note that there may be unscheduled technical difficulties, pauses/breaks, as well as reading of comments which you may not be able to see.

5 Parenting Tools That Connect & Heal

When children feel safe, seen, and connected with their parents or other adults in their lives, they are at their best. They can learn, explore, share, cooperate, and develop sound judgment over time. But when big negative feelings interfere, that sense of connection breaks easily, and difficult behaviors signal that the child is in trouble.

The Listening Tools we’ll present give parents and professionals simple but deeply healing ways to build a child’s sense of connection. With regular use of the Listening Tools, caring adults become less reactive to a child’s behavioral calls for help. The Listening Tools help parents and professionals work with a child’s natural instinct to heal from hurt and trauma.

This workshop will be interactive, and will call on your experience as a therapist and/or parent as we introduce you to our approach. You’ll be invited to share your insights and impressions, ask questions, experiment with a few of the Listening Tools, and we will present ways you can engage parents of the children you work with in the healing process.

The two of us have over 55 years of experience working with the Hand in Hand approach in a wide variety of settings and diverse groups. We look forward to supporting your good work!

OBJECTIVES

• Participants working with a stressed parent will be able to explain the Listening Tools of Special Time and Stay listening, and invite the parent to experiment with the tools that will strengthen their child’s sense of connection and heal from hurt or trauma.
• Participants will be able to use Special Time and Play listening to increase emotional safety and speed the healing process for their young clients.
• Participants will be able to employ Setting Limits and Staylistening as two healing responses to their young clients’ challenging behaviours and/or emotional episodes.
• Participants will be able to use Listening Partnerships with one another, or with others they may choose, to build the emotional support they need for their work with their clients and their relationships within their own families.
• Participants will be able to navigate the Hand in Hand Parenting  website to access resources that deepen their effectiveness with young clients, those children’s parents, and within their own families.