Thursday, June 8, 2023, North Carolina Training Groups via Live Interactive Zoom Webconference
Friday, June 9, 2023, North Carolina Training Groups via Live Interactive Zoom Webconference
8:25am-12:35pm

This workshop provides an eco-systemic framework for understanding and treating troubled parent-child relationships in under-organized families. Life in the under-organized home for children and their caregivers is marked by inconsistency, chaos, and low support. Caregivers are often “leaning out” of the parenting role, appearing distracted and disengaged from household management and day-to-day parenting. Their children have often stopped listening to them, which is usually the caregivers’ main presenting complaint. Relationships between caregivers and between caregivers and their children can be fragile and badly bruised. Adding to the complexity these families are often involved with multiple service providers, including child protective services. Engagement of the caregivers is key to stabilizing the under-organized family and strengthening their relationships with their children. This workshop provides treatment guidelines focused on the initial steps of intervention, such as engaging these caregivers in family treatment, addressing their ambivalence about being a parent, strengthening their executive functioning, and orienting them toward building more functional relationships with their children. Common traps are identified that therapists need to avoid when working with these caregivers and their families.

This is a live synchronous distance learning activity conducted in real time, allowing for simultaneous participation of participants and instructors from different locations.

Objectives:

As a result of attending this continuing education activity, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize the characteristics of under-organization in families and the caregiving patterns that create and maintain it.
2. Describe strategies for emotionally engaging distrustful, detached caregivers in treatment.
3. Describe strategies for addressing caregiver ambivalence about being a parent and moving them toward “leaning into” their relationship with their children.
4. Identify the most common mistakes professionals make when working with under-organized families and how to avoid them.