Abstract
Orientation to parenting practices aims to modify the context in which children are inserted as a means to induce changes in their behavior. This article describes a brief seven-session individual intervention program aimed to help guardians identifying and encouraging appropriate behavior in their children, teaching new behaviors, encouraging autonomy, finding non-aggressive approaches to dealing with bad behavior, and assisting in the routine organization. The study describes three cases, exemplifying the strategies adopted in each of them. The analysis allowed the delineation of common characteristics among parental practices, indicating that families use corporal punishment, struggle in empathizing with the child, and have an authoritarian parental style and expectations that are incompatible with children’s age. The results indicate that the childhood of parents and guardians had a strong influence on the development of their parental practices. Moreover, intact families presented an overload in the maternal figure. In this scenario, the intervention can bridge an initial contact between the family and a psychology service, encouraging later contact that can attend to other family difficulties. Despite the positive changes in family relationships enabled by this brief intervention, the study requires a pre- and post-intervention quantitative measurement and a follow-up session to verify whether these changes are long-term.
Keywords:
Parental Practices; Parent Guidance; Brief Intervention