Parents with Co-Occurring Issues:
Parent/Child Visits
Parents with mental health problems or cognitive limitations can still be loving, committed parents, but they may need help and coaching to stay focused on their children.
One of the major visit challenges when a parent has a co-occurring disorder is the confusion between non-compliance and underlying mental health issues, including cognitive limitations. Missed visits and appointments may be frustrating, but when accompanied by ignored advice, lack of comprehension, and forgetting, may be signs of cognitive and mental health issues, rather than non-compliance.
Other co-occurring issues that crop up during visits include:
- A parent’s affect – either exaggerrated or flat
- Lack of focus during the visit
To help enhance visits between a parent with a co-occurring issue and a child, professionals can focus on such themes as:
- Child safety
- Managing parents’ reactions to the child’s behavior
- Preparing the parent and the child before each visit, including helping parents think through how they will respond to their children
- Determining the appropriate duration and frequency of visits
- Helping parents plan developmentally appropriate visit activities
- Helping children cope with and understand a parent’s mental health-driven behavior
