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916-247-7997 | BijiliT@aol.com | 916-361-0404 FAX
Offered to the Superior Court
Of El Dorado County
Psychotherapy/Counseling
Individual, couple, family, child or adolescent therapy is offered for a variety of relationship issues from premarital counseling to physical and sexual abuse issues. Services for children are offered from ages 3 to 18. Modalities used include play, sandplay and art therapy, as well as brief therapy and family systems approaches.
The purpose of supervised visitation is to provide a protected setting for parent-child contact when such contact presents risk following parental separation, child abuse or neglect or after an extended interruption of contact. Supervised visitation is distinguished from supportive and therapeutic visitation by its emphasis on neutrality; that is, the supervised visitation monitor makes no intervention that would actively support or encourage the relationship between the parent and child. However, the monitor would intervene if the emotional or physical safety of a child were threatened. The monitor is responsible for hearing and seeing all interactions between the parent and child.
To maintain safety and to reduce the potential conflict in front of the child, the visiting parent is generally required to arrive 15 minutes prior to the visit, whereas the custodial parent and child arrive at the scheduled time in a separate location. At the end of the visit, the custodial parent and the child leave the site and the visiting parent waits with the monitor for 5-10 minutes.
A comprehensive set of rules and professional guidelines apply and are agreed to by all parties.
Supervised visits can take place in any location that is agreed upon by all parties (zoo, park, a home etc.)
Services Protocol:
- Intake session with visiting parent - 1 hour
- Intake session with custodial parent - 1 hour
- Orientation session with the child and parent prior to the first visit - 10-15 minutes
- Supervised visits are scheduled and continue until ordered to stop
Therapeutic supervised visitation is a structured, proactive process that directly addresses the conditions that led to the referral. Therapeutic supervision involves the completion of therapeutic goals between parents and children, assisted by a trained licensed therapist. These goals include the healing of past trauma, the communication of feelings, improving the parent's response to the needs of the child, and the development of appropriate parenting skills. The visits can include a combination of therapeutic focus as well as monitored play-time for the visiting parent and child. State standards and generally accepted professional guidelines for therapeutic supervised visitation are employed.
Services Protocol:
- Individual Intake session with visiting parent - 1 hour
- Individual Intake session with custodial parent - 1 hour
- Individual intake sessions (1-2) with the child/ren - 1 hour each. The child completes individual sessions with the visitation therapist in order to understand the process, the therapist's role, to be aware of his/her rights and to prepare the child for the sessions with their parent.
- Final preparation with the child for individual sessions with the visiting parent - 1 hour
- Therapeutic supervised visitation begins - The sessions continue until the court orders other visitation arrangements.
It is often advisable for all parties to have an individual therapist, other than the Therapeutic Supervisor, to assist in addressing therapeutic issues pre- and post-visits. Reports are written at the request of either parent or the court, and may include general opinions, observations and recommendations.
Co-Parenting services can be customized to the specific needs of parents or can be offered in the structure of the Shared Parenting Support Program SPSP Ó, designed by Frank Leek, Ph.D. The focus of this service is to assist separated or divorced parents in moving beyond the adversarial process and to focus on the needs of their children without being adversely influenced by the residual conflict of the divorce and court process. An informative workbook is provided to both parents.
Confidential and non-confidential mediation services are available. This service may be highly beneficial for divorcing parents in that they can be proactive in designing a workable and appropriate plan for their post-divorce relationship and for co-parenting their children. An emphasis is placed on what would be in the best interests of the children.
Child custody evaluations are often ordered by the court for the purpose of gathering detailed forensic information in cases where the parents cannot successfully negotiate issues related to the custody and welfare of their children. This information is evaluated and submitted to the court in the form of developmentally appropriate recommendations related to the best interests of the children.
Reunification therapy is often beneficial when an assessment is needed regarding a parent-child relationship. A parent may have been absent for an extended period of time or there may be a history of some form of abuse that the child has witnessed or was a victim of. The structured Reunification Process can assess the potential for reunification as well as assist in improving parent-child contact in a safe environment.
Often it is beneficial for both the parents and child to have their own individual therapist as they proceed through this difficult process. The parent benefits with individual therapy in that the focus of the therapy is on how to support the child in what the child may say or feel. The child benefits with individual therapy in that they can have a supportive environment in which to process issues that may arise from the reunification process. The reunification therapist may consult with the child's therapist throughout the process in order to appropriately address the child needs. The custodial parent is kept apprised of how the sessions are progressing in order for that parent to support the visiting child. The reunification therapist cannot also be the individual therapist for the clients. Preparation materials for reunification are provided to both parents. A report is often required by the court or is requested by a client.
Typical Session Protocol:
- Intake session(s) with the parent seeking reunification – 1-4 hours
- Intake session(s) with the custodial parent – 1-4 hours
- Intake sessions (1 hour) with the child/ren in preparation for the joint reunification sessions: 2-4 sessions
- Reunification sessions with parent and child (1 hour) - 4-6 sessions or more
Copyright © 2004
All rights reserved.
Bijili Elizabeth Abbey, MFT
5725 Hwy 111, Building 7
Cookeville, TN 38506
Created: 3/27/2004
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