ACT With Parents Families

7/29/2019 ACT With Parents Families

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ACT with Parents & Families

J. T. Blackledge, Ph. D.

University of Nevada, Reno


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Combining ACT & Parent Training

Assess to see if parenting deficits exist.

Assess to see if excessive experiential

avoidance and/or problematic levels ofcognitive fusion are present.


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How can Parent Training protocols

be enhanced by ACT?

Skilled parenting responses already in aparents repertoire may often not be madeskillfully because cognitive and emotional

barriers work against them. ACT can cutthrough such avoidance and rigid rulegovernance.

Undergoing parent training can beembarrassing or insulting. Defusion andvalues work can help cut through this.


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How can Parent Training protocols

be enhanced by ACT?

PT can often be conducted without providing

sufficient incentives to learn the approach.

Integration of ACT into PT includesassessment & clarification of parent values

relevant to their families & children.

If a parent truly values ends facilitated byPT, you then have a hook to get them &

keep them engaged in PT.


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How might ACT be integrated into

Parent Training?

Conduct enough ACT prior to parent training

to assess and clarify parental values & give

them some experience with defusing &

acceptance.

Assess parental attitudes about PT. Defuse

cognitive barriers to engaging in training, &

realistically frame better parenting skills as a

way to move more effectively toward values.


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Once initial ACT work is done, seed

in more during PT sessions:

Conduct defusion & acceptance exercises

centered around using effective parenting

strategies once the PT strategies are taught.

Prompt parents to use appropriate defusion

& acceptance techniques when

implementing these parenting strategies.


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If parents arent regularly attending PT &

learning/implementing procedures, then its

probably a cue that theyve been tripped

up by some cognitive and emotional

barriers. Assess to see what these are,

then bring in defusion, acceptance, &

values stuff to cut through them.


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Periodically re-orient parents to their relevant

professed values during training sessions. Dont

just do it verballydo it experientially from time to

time as well, in creative ways. Always yoke parenttraining to personally held values.

Remain alert to negative evaluations that inhibit

skillful use of trained parenting principles. Help

the client defuse them as you would with any such

evaluations.


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in more during PT sessions: Remain alert to broader issues that may be involved with

parents potent emotional reactions to child misbehavior.As with any strong emotional reaction, strong reactions toa childs behavior may have a history that stretchesbeyond the birth of the child.

Realize that defusion and acceptance work brought in toaddress problematic child behavior may focus on themesnot unique to dealing with the child (e.g., difficulties withfeeling ineffective or incompetent, difficulties disciplininga child because of harsh discipline by ones own parents,

difficulties with not being permissive for fear others wontlike you, etc.), and that defusion/acceptance work mayneed to focus on these broader themes to facilitate moreeffective parenting.


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Tailor ACT exercises & metaphors to

parenting issues when possible:

Focus client experientially on the specifics of acommon & emotionally charged problem theyhave with a spouse or child. Prompt them

repeatedly to notice evaluations, defuse, andaccept the discomfort involved in the experience.

Have partners discuss an emotionally chargedissue related to their children or parenting

issues, repeatedly prompting each to noticenegative evaluations, & to defuse from theseevaluations and accept underlying feelings.


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Be alert to potential need to

integrate ACT with other skills

training: E.g., communication or relationship skills ,

problem solving skills, etc.

ALWAYS assess to see what relevant skillsdeficits & excesses are.

ALWAYS link such skills training to

personally held values. Seed in defusion & acceptance work as

needed while teaching & practicing skills.


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When working with multiple family

members, find common ground

between individual values When true, note that individuals share essentially the

same value.

When the path to apparently divergent values can share

the same road, point out how. For example, a teenagermay value increased independence, while his parentsvalue respectful and responsible interactions betweenfamily members. If all parties agreed, it could be pointedout to the teenager that increasingly respectful andresponsible behavior (specifically defined, of course) will

demonstrate that he should have increasedindependenceand it could be pointed out to theparents that such behavior on the part of their son shouldyield increased independence (again, specificallydefined).


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Pliance should be addressed (in part) by doing

individualvalues assessment and clarification(i.e., with no other family members present).

Parents & kids may be unduly influenced by thepresence of other family members during suchworkand its critical that they beallowed/helped to state their heartfelt values intheir own words if they are to be used to anygreat effect.

Counterpliance should always be addressed(particularly with kids & teenagers) byconsistently pointing out that certain behaviors

are only problematic not because they conflictwith what one is supposed to do, but becausethey unnecessarily impede movement towardpersonally held values.


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Whenever possible, use the metric of moreeffective pursuit of personally held values whenworking to change behavior with multiple familymembers. A persons behaviors in this context

are not problems because they upset someoneelse in the family, because they are wrong, orbecause they are insensitivethey areproblems if they impede the persons movementtoward what they value. Obviously, you must becreative as a clinician and their must be somereasonable degree of linkage between eachfamily members values for this to work.


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Exercise

You believe a single parent of a child youve seenin therapy for a few sessions would benefit greatlyfrom learning more effective parenting skills. Atyour request, the parent comes in for a session.

Youve told her (or him) the purpose of the sessionis to discuss the childs progress and brainstormways to help the child even more. Your additional(unspoken) purpose is to see if you can find aparental value to use as a hook to get that personinto a Parent Training/ACT group. Be consciousof the fact that the parent may be offended by thesuggestion and/or feel it isnt necessary.

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ACT With Parents Families