Whether you're at your wit's end with behavior, finding yourself in more “reactive” than “pro-active” mode, have experienced a trauma, or are dealing with a difficult family transition, our in-home C.A.T.s Family Assessment can help you navigate your next step forward.
This assessment is unique. In contrast to psychological or psychiatric assessments, the objective is not to pathologize or stick a label on the child/ren or parents. We take a holistic view of the family system by hearing all of the perspectives in the family. We place the children at the centre of the system, and respect them as important contributors and sources of information, and often even solutions.
Our therapist will conduct individual interviews with each of the parents/primary caregivers in the family system. These interviews happen, as much as possible, in the home, as we view the home environment as a rich source of information about the family context.
After speaking to the adults, our therapist will have individual “play and chat sessions” with each of the children (four years and older). In the child's preferred play room, our therapist will build rapport with the child through play, and then move on to an age-appropriate chat about the issues brought up by the parents. One or more primary caregivers should be in the house, however the child's session should remain private.
Our therapist will take all perspectives in the family system into account, including information gleaned from playing and speaking with the children, to generate an assessment report. The report will outline:
We'll all sit down together and have a therapist-led discussion about the contents of the Family Assessment Report, and a preview of the resources outlined in the report. Some families will find this service by itself to be enough to point them in a more cohesive and functional direction, and they'll want to take it from there!
For some families, especially those with neurodiverse kids or parents, this process might be a good jumping-off point, but not enough support to move forward together. In these cases we can continue with individual, family and/or home sessions, provide behavioral support through creating systems of positive reinforcement, and/or continue to schedule check-ins to make sure the implementation is going according to plan. We'll even make individualized materials for positive reinforcement to help the kiddos (and adults!) remember their goals and strategies.
Send us a message with a brief description of the type of support you're looking for.