The Parental Identity Development Model: A Framework for Counseling Parents
In the field of psychology, there are many theoretical models for how children develop into adults and how adults develop later in life. Unfortunately, there is not a structured model for what happens to individuals entering one of the most significant and long-term phases of life: parenthood. Just as clinicians are guided by models that help them understand children and adults as they develop, they can also benefit from a framework for how parenting identity develops during the child-rearing process.
In this two-hour continuing education web conference, licensed clinical social worker and parenting coach, Mercedes Samudio, will introduce the Parenting Identity Development Model to help guide clinicians and parents through change in therapy. Mercedes created this model using existing evidence-based developmental research and proven therapeutic techniques. She will discuss the role a parent plays in a family’s ability to change and what therapists can do to help them successfully maintain those changes. She will cover strategies to bypass parental resistance and develop a therapeutic alliance that will help empower parents and heal families.
Mercedes based the framework for the Parenting Identity Development Model on the work of experts such as Ellen Galinsky, Erik Erikson, and Daniel Levinson, as well as recent research about the impact of trauma and biology on personal identity. She will discuss the stages of parenting identity and their key tasks that contribute to a parent developing a healthier parenting identity. Mercedes will share case examples and will also demonstrate coaching strategies clinicians can use to engage parents and convey the importance of healthy identity development on the overall health of the family.
This introductory instructional level web conference is designed to help clinicians:
Summarize the parenting identity development model.
Explain the process of parental identity development.
List stages in the model and the tasks needed to move into the next stage successfully.
Describe specific strategies for using this model in therapy.
Recognize barriers, including parental defense mechanisms, that may interfere with parental development.
The Parental Identity Development Model
Mercedes Samudio, LCSW
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