The VPT is a therapy framework for parents, or parents and their child/ren. The VPT is easy to understand and offers a flexible foundation for assessment, stand-alone treatment, and/or integration into multi-disciplinary treatment packages. It started with an origindal idea by Laine Jäderberg and Mandy Sarankin and then researched and developed by Laine for her Doctoral thesis. It focuses on the parent-child relationship through the lens of parenting ‘tasks' which are usually practiced by the parent and child during the course of treatment.
The VPT asserts that there are 20 vital parenting tasks (for example attunement, capacity to play, consistency, non-narcissistic delight, reflexivity, empathy) with a foundation task for the parent to have processed their own experience of being parented. The aim is to support the enrichment of the parent-child relationship, demystify parenting, highlight parental strengths, and bolster any weaknesses.
Specialists working in adoption, parental alienation, couples work, ocial workers and non-clinical professionals, such as those working in fostering and adoption have used the VPT model and indicated that it was was adaptable to their cases too. The model is currently used by several local authorities in adoption support work with families.
Although the original research did not look to identify effectiveness in any particular group, findings suggested that the VPT may be beneficial for psychosomatic presentations and early trauma. There is a larger study planned to explore the VPT's use in this particular patient group.
Therapeutic methods include cross-modal creative tasks, for example using different methods of working at once (such as talking therapy combined with creative work, movement, sensory exercises) in order for the parent to deepen their relationship with their child and support parenting tasks they find more challenging. Sometimes we will work with two therapist so that the child can have a separate space of their own to explore their feelings and concerns. We always use observation too and this is done with home visits but we also encourage parents to learn observation skills too and we sometimes set short tasks for them to observe their child or social interactions between people.
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