Counselling Parents: The Early Stages
The counselling of parents, like most counselling and many other endeavours, is likely to be heavily influenced by what happens in the early stages. If parents come to you and feel welcomed, respected, and understood, they are more likely to open up with the vital information that will enable you to help their children change challenging or harmful behaviours. If in addition, you are able to convey a sense of competence – that you do get what they are up against and are up to the task of helping them sort it out (without blaming them, that is) – you are well on the way to building a trusting, workable therapeutic alliance with the parent, which is likely to further influence the comfort their child may feel with you, should you decide to work with the child as well. »
