Trauma-Informed Parenting Capacity Assessment

Placing the child at the centre of decision making in family law.

What you'll learn
Identify the psychological processes underpinning abuse and neglect and how these can be identified to inform decision making about children's care needs..
Organise information to make trauma responsive decisions about the parent’s capacity to care for the child using the Psychological Parenting Capacity Checklist.
Identify clinical information required to determine the care needs of the child and the parent's sensitivity to these needs.
Determine the safety of the context within which the parent-child relationship takes place.
Requirements
No experience needed. The course explains a framework that can be applied to decision making about parenting capacity.
Description
The course describes how children are harmed by parents who abuse them, psychological factors that cause harmful parenting and what information about the parent-child relationship is required to make trauma-informed decisions about the child’s care. It is orientated around an evidence-based clinical approach primarily informed by contemporary attachment theory as a way of conceptualizing the parent-child relationship.The course:· Explains the psychological processes underpinning abuse and neglect and how these can be identified to inform decision making.· Identifies relevant clinical information required to determine the care needs of the child, the sensitivity of the parent to the child’s needs and the safety of the context within which the parent-child relationship takes place.· Describes the Psychological Parenting Capacity Checklist, a framework designed to aid decision-making through organisation of clinical information available and to determine whether further assessment is required to make trauma-responsive decisions about the parent’s capacity to care for their child.Part one describes what trauma is and the relational nature of attachment trauma, which occurs when parents abuse or neglect their child.Part two outlines the causes of parenting difficulties and their impact on the child.Part three identifies what information needs to be gathered to inform decision making and describes the Psychological Parenting Capacity Checklist which can be used to make trauma-informed decisions about children’s care arrangements.Target audienceThe course is relevant to those involved in making or contributing to legal decisions about a parent’s capacity to safely care for their child. This includes legal professionals, social workers, and mental health practitioners.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction

Section 2: The Relational Nature of Trauma

Lecture 2 What is psychological trauma?

Lecture 3 Attachment Trauma

Lecture 4 Reflective Exercise

Section 3: The causes of parenting difficulties and their impact upon the child.

Lecture 5 Healthy vs Unhealthy Parent-Child Relationships

Lecture 6 Sensitive Parenting

Lecture 7 Controlling parenting

Lecture 8 How children adapt to their parent to maintain connection: Attachment patterns

Lecture 9 Unresponsive Parenting

Lecture 10 The developmental consequences of attachment trauma

Lecture 11 The long-term impact on the child of the nature of the parent-child relationship

Section 4: Trauma responsive decision making about children’s care arrangements.

Lecture 12 Psychological components of parenting capacity

Lecture 13 The interplay of factors that inform psychological parenting capacity

Lecture 14 The Psychological Parenting Capacity Checklist

Lecture 15 Clinical information about the specific care needs of the child

Lecture 16 The parent’s sensitivity to the specific needs of their child

Lecture 17 High conflict parenting post-separation (“parental alienation”)

Lecture 18 Clinical information about the context in which parenting takes place

Lecture 19 Case example using the Psychological Parenting Capacity Checklist

Lecture 20 Summary and Conclusion

The course is relevant to those involved in making or contributing to legal decisions about a parent’s capacity to safely care for their child. This includes legal professionals, social workers, and mental health practitioners.