It’s not just babies who have teething troubles – parenting can be a tough gig.
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It becomes especially tough if you’re living in a regional area. Support, specialists and even a shoulder to cry on can be few and far between.
An online toddler clinic from the University of NSW, and parenting service Karitane, is offering evidence-based support for challenging toddler behaviour. Parent Child Interaction Therapy is already popular in the US.
The best part is it can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, from their lounge-room.
Clinical psychologist and UNSW senior lecturer, Dr Jane Kohlhoff, wants to make family time more enjoyable for parents and kids.
“A big problem for families experiencing these kinds of behaviour – aggression, tantrums, hitting – is that parents can’t control, or don’t enjoy being with, their children,” Dr Kohlhoff.
“We wanted to expand our service to families in rural areas. Parents are given live coaching while they are interacting with their child.
“Parents get in-the-moment feedback on how to support their child and manage their behaviour.”
Dr Kohlhoff said common challenges ranged from persistent running away to physical aggression towards parents or siblings, and could disrupt the whole family.
“Some parents can’t leave the house because of their child’s behaviour,” she said.
“Parenting is tough at the best of times.”
She said she’d seen the program change lives: “To be able to go down to the shops again – many of them feel like they get their life back.”
The key was developing strengths.
“We want to improve enjoyment – the program is not judgemental in any way,” she said.
“And there’s no better time to get help than when the child is young.”
The weekly sessions run for approximately 12 weeks. Parents need a referral from a health professional, to access the program via the Karitane website