How does it work?
Connect is a 10-week program to support parents and caregivers of pre-teens and teens with behavioural and emotional problems. Parents meet in small groups with two trained group leaders for 90 minutes each week. Each session provides parents with a new perspective on parent-teen relationships and adolescent development. Parents watch role-plays and try exercises that encourage more choices for responding to their teens’ difficult behaviour.
We understand that each child and each parent is different and change is part of development. Rather than teach only one way of parenting, we help parents to see alternatives in dealing with their teens in ways which support healthy relationships while setting limits and helping their teen to move forward.
What is the Connect
Attachment Program?
In this video, we provide a concise overview of why Connect was created, how it works, and some of the most compelling evidence that it leads to real change for families.
Attachment & Development
Attachment is a safety net for healthy development. When children are securely attached, they feel comfortable exploring their environment – they do not cling to us unnecessarily – they are free to learn new things about the world and develop new relationships. They also feel comfortable coming to us for help when they need it. They do not try to hide their fears, or avoid us when they are upset. A secure bond provides a good balance of comfort and safety on the one hand, and support for learning new things about the world on the other.
Attachment with caregivers is a biologically-based need. It is essential for survival. When a baby cries, the mother or father goes to the baby and looks after the baby’s needs. Attachment needs are expressed differently as children grow and develop. Babies may cry or coo, toddlers and little children may do other things to make their needs known, and adolescents and adults communicate their attachment needs through other behaviours. Nonetheless, the need for attachment remains constant. Connect focuses on helping parents understand how they can support a secure attachment with their teen.
Strengthening Parent - Child Relationships
Attachment is something that is shared between children and parents – it is a “shared partnership”. You build the relationship together, you change it together, and you are both changed by it. Your understanding and behaviour in the relationship has a powerful impact on your child’s behaviour and development. By understanding attachment in your relationship with your child, you can respond in ways that support healthy development and strengthen the bond between you.
Therapeutic Goals of Connect
The Connect Parent Group focuses on strengthening the building blocks of attachment security. This means enhancing:
caregivers’ sensitivity
caregivers’ reflective functioning
caregivers’ ability to manage difficult emotional states in themselves and their children (dyadic affect regulation)
shared partnership and mutuality in the caregiver-child relationship
