For optimal support, of the children involved,  it is necessary for an initial interview involving  the parents with the therapist to precede. This will serve  to obtain the child's history, to express the child’s needs, set common goals and outline the treatment plan. Then, in parallel with the treatment of the child, it is extremely helpful for parents to be involved in a counseling process. Through these sessions,  bidirectional feedback on the child's progress is initially achieved and a relationship of trust and cooperation is cultivated between the treatment team and the family.

Counseling is also psychoeducational, helping parents recognize, make sense of, comprehend and accept the child's difficulties. It provides personalized directions and guidelines  and helps parents see situations from a new perspective. Parents are trained and practiced in skills and strategies, to manage a variety of everyday practical issues related to the child. This process puts the parents in an active role in the therapeutic course of the child, something that has been proven to have a positive effect on the way they feel about it but also on the development  of the child.

At the same time, through the counseling process, parents have the opportunity to express and manage their own feelings and concerns in their role as parents, to take care of their own psyche so that they can support the child more effectively through their multifaceted and demanding role. Counseling sessions can be done with both parents or one, and the frequency is determined by consultation.

Parent Groups

Parent groups are parent gatherings coordinated by a psychologist, where information on issues related to children and parenting is provided, views are exchanged, share emotions, and experiences are narrated. Parent groups have an experiential and interactive role. Their main purpose is through sharing to increase parents' confidence in their role. At the same time, to prevent and / or address difficulties in the parent-child relationship through the development of communication skills, the expression and management of emotions, the recognition and acceptance of personal difficulties in the parental role, and expanding knowledge and strategies for managing problems and crises. The parent groups that operate in our center are small (up to 8 people) and are formed in such a way that the parents who participate in them have children at a young age. They are carried out online due to the conditions of the pandemic in recent years. The topics of the meetings are determined by the needs and wishes of the parents and the suggestions of the psychologist. Group meetings take place every 15 days, at a fixed day and time decided by the team. Parents who participated in a group at the center told us: