Indirect Parenting Interventions, Neuroscience and the Parent-Child Relationship

Book excerpt: This volume explores indirect parenting behavior that changes the structure of the parent-child relationship, examining the ecological dimension of parenting in addition to nurturance and control. Drawing on neuroscientific research in parenting, it provides a model for how children learn implicitly and how parents can relate to children through indirect means. Roberts argues that first-order parenting techniques, teaching specific behaviors to reduce unwanted child behaviors, are overused. He examines and offers guidance on how indirect interventions that place emphasis on the interactional components of the parent/child relationship, such as modelling, storytelling, reframing, humor, and paradox, can support parents and children in developing positive relationships. • Addresses the latest brain research and its application to parent/child interactions • Introduces the student to aspects of the parent/child relationship that are not covered in most courses • Useful to clinicians who work directly with parents • Offers a perspective on parenting that differs from most parenting models • Facilitates awareness of how unconscious and nonverbal communication affects parenting • Serves to deepen the relationship with the child and curb unwanted behavior Indirect Parenting Interventions, Neuroscience and the Parent-Child Relationship will be thought-provoking reading for students and scholars of parenting and family systems, as well as clinicians who work directly with parents giving them a broader perspective in dealing with parent/child interactions.