Mandatory Readings: Back to Basics: Attachment, Affect Regulation, and the Developing Right Brain: Linking Developmental Neuroscience to Pediatrics
Goals & Objectives
Knowing how to counsel parents effectively rests on understanding their concerns, hearing their stories and becoming more facile observers of the parent, the child and their interactions. What better place than in the laboratory (the well-child visit) before you?
During this rotation, on as many occasions as you can, go somewhere where parents and kids hang out (supermarkets, malls, playgrounds, etc.) On the enclosed form, note SPECIFIC behaviors that you observe to promote positive connection between parents and children and SPECIFIC behaviors that interfere. DON'T INTERPRET THE BEHAVIORS YET, JUST DESCRIBE THEM. Being specific means reporting — Mother bent down to be at eye level with the child vs. Mother was nice to the baby. Look for a range of interactions, both positive and negative.
Next, when you have finished your observations and feel you have gained some insight about promoting positive parent-child relations, go to the next page and create a summary list of what you think parents can do to create a positive interaction with their child.
Lastly—on the third page—practice seeing what it's like to talk about this during a well child visit in a way that is different from your current practice. Use some techniques gained through the Motivational Interviewing and the sessions with Dr. Avni-singer. Use your observations of the parent, the child and the interactions to narrate positive moments and explore difficult ones.