Family Repair and Co-Parenting Work
When conflict between parents begins to impact their ability to recognise and meet the needs of their children, ACCA’s Family Repair and Positive Co-Parenting work can help them to refocus.
Individuals have their own triggers to conflict and most couples argue at some point in their relationship, it is simply human nature to have different opinions or to have coping mechanisms that are not always healthy. What is important, is the way in which those fights are managed and whether they are a pattern of escalating and toxic behaviours that can have the greatest impact for children within the family, who can be exposed to frightening adult behaviours.
Equally, when parents separate, that embroiled, implacable hostility can lead them to lose sight of their children and even use them as an emotional battering ram against each other. Disputes about custody and contact arrangements can cause significant harm to the child’s relationship with one or both parents when parents deliberately alienate the absent parent.
ACCA’s Family Repair and Positive Co-parenting work aims to assist parents to recognise the impact of their behaviour for their child and looks at developing strategies to improve the way that parents work together and begin to repair the damage that has been done.
Advanced CCA has a number of experienced Independent Social Workers who can undertake work with parents when the hostility within a relationship has become a source of potential harm to their child. We can work with parents individually or together with a primary goal of reducing the likelihood of harm to the child.
Self-awareness is key as only then will an individual be able to notice when their buttons are being pressed and find a way to manage that. Early traumatic memories are often experienced as emotions rather than thoughts and behaviours from those around us can flood a person with feelings that they attribute to the current situation, when in reality, their foundations are in the past. Exploring past relationships can uncover repressed feelings and negative attribution behaviours.
By assisting parents to consider carefully, their communication style, parents can learn about their individual triggers and how to better manage situations which have the potential for hostility or even violence. By providing a supportive and non-judgemental environment, practitioners can assist parents to identify and resolve issues within their relationship.
Where hostility leads to a parent turning a child against the other parent through lies, manipulation, or threats, it can cause emotional distress, low self-esteem, and damaged relationships for the child and the targeted parent. Our team of Independent Social Workers can work closely with parents and children to assist the family to achieve a more harmonious relationship, that places the needs and the feelings of the child as paramount.
Direct work with the child and giving the child a voice in the process, can uncover the extent of impact that parents’ behaviours can have and this in itself, can be a powerful motivator for change and a vehicle for repairing a child’s relationship with a parent.
