Supervised Visitation/Supervised Parenting Time
At Traverse Counseling & Consulting we believe that each parent in a child’s life is important. There are times when the conflict in a family makes it difficult to maintain a sense of safety for children. When there has been a breach of trust or concerns about a child’s emotional or even physical safety, finding a place to create safety so that the child can reestablish contact with the parent can be invaluable. We believe there is great value in thorough report writing for this contact can between parent and child. We believe that it can be incredibly useful for parents and professionals alike who are looking to understand the dynamics between child and parent. Thorough reports can be help professionals involved in understanding if there are; parent deficits, if the child is being involved in the parent-to-parent conflict, and to what degree a parent’s perception and the child’s perception are congruent with what occurs in Supervised Parenting time.
At Traverse Counseling & Consulting, we are honored to be able to provide this service. We do so with a high level of transparency and thorough report writing to assist parents and professionals as they seek to find a way forward form a stuck place as a family.
What to look for in a Supervised Parenting Provider:
- Neutral language report writing based on observed behavior
- A provider who will make space for parent and child interactions to occur
- Will not tolerate intimidation of themselves, the child, the other parent or any staff at the facility
- Will treat all parties with dignity and respect
- Supervised Parenting provider supports the service that both parents agree to and works to find agreement between parents before beginning the service
- Supervised Parenting providers should have a safety plan if/when there are concerns about a child/children’s safety during a session
What Supervised Parenting does NOT look like:
- A Supervised Parenting provider should NEVER make recommendations about parenting time
- A Supervised Parenting provider does NOT intervene and play with the child/children
- A Supervised Parenting provider should never be seen as being on one “side” or the other
- Supervised Parenting providers should not seek to interpret court orders regarding services
- A Supervised Parenting provider should never seek to force a child to participate in a session – this is a parenting domain
Although the written reports are not forensic in ANY way, the content may be useful in beginning to understand where some of the problems in the parent-child contact problem lie. Professionals working with a family where there are parent-child contact problems may benefit from utilizing Supervised Parenting time to assist in restoring some contact while also using written reports to help determine if:
- There are parent deficits
- There are concerns about emotional or physical safety of a child
- There are challenges related to the parent exchange
- There is mistrust or animosity between parents causing the child distress with one or both parents
To learn more, go to Supervised-visitation @ Traverse Counseling & Consulting