VIEWPOINT
Principles Of Care
For treatment and parenting to be effective…it must be based on parenting principles that facilitate security of attachments and which incorporate an attitude based on playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, and empathy. The foundation of these interventions -- both in home and in treatment -- must never involve coercion, threat, intimidation, and the use of power to force submission. *
*Our ‘Principles of Care’ have borrowed significantly from the work of Dr. D. Hughes.
Toward an End of Coercive Parenting (from ATTACh 'Whitepaper on Coercion in Treratment,' 2009).
The purpose of this document is to set guidelines and standards for ethically and clinically appropriate treatment for children with attachment problems. This document is intended to provide guidance to parents and therapists so that they avoid the use of coercive techniques. Bluewater believes a central focus of treatment for children with attachment problems is to create an environment in which the individual can safely work to integrate previously unmanageable information and emotions related to early traumatic experiences with caregivers.
Consequences and Discipine
Dr. Ross Greene has written two books, The Explosive Child, 5th Ed (2014) and Lost at School (2008). Dr Greene's work is the substance of the accompanying article. In Dr. Greene’s own words,
“During the 2009-10 school year, kids were referred to the principal's office for discipline 146 times, and two were suspended. Two years later, the number of referrals was down to 45, with zero suspensions, all thanks to focusing more on "meeting the child's needs and solving problems instead of controlling behaviour..." (emphasis added)
Dr Greene’s point, and the point of reprinting this article, is that even in an environment of less intense intimacy than a family, using a relationship to effect change, works.