Treatment

Treatment will need to be comprehensive, involving a three-pronged approach:

Manage Symptoms
Address Family Roles, Boundaries, Dynamics
Link to Community Resources

Higdon et al. (2022) suggest a multi-tiered approach that includes identifying at-risk children, screenings for mental health, teaching coping skills and cognitive reframing, and linking to support services. It is critically important to integrate individual and family work. Having family sessions will help to address the root cause. As part of the treatment, it will be essential to involve family members, particularly the parents.

Intervening on all three levels will allow meaningful impact that addresses the root cause, decrease the negative symptoms, and strengthens the resources.

9

LInkages

Individual

Family

R reflects upon supports that would have been helpful for her as a child, tasked with adult responsibilities.

Key Points:

It is critically important to include a multi-pronged approach:managing symptoms, addressing family roles, bounaries and dynamics, and linking to community resources
There must be an integration of individual and family work.

Returning to Casey: Treatment

Casey is brought into treatment because she had been lashing out at her mother. It is the first intake session, and she clearly appears nervous and quiet. Engaging both mother and daughter will be essential. This may sound easy, but you will need to balance creating a space for Casey where she feels you are trustworthy and sincere, while creating a nonjudgmental space for her mother. For treatment, you will need to help Casey manage her symptoms of anxiety. You will need to help her mother gain insight into how the current dynamics may not be helpful for them both. They will need to learn effective, healthy communication skills and be linked to community resources that will offer concrete financial assistance.

Helping Parentified Children