Exploring common therapeutic elements in providing support services to parents whose children are in public care: A qualitative study

Parents whose children are in public care are a vulnerable, hard-to-reach and under-focused group. Their needs are numerous, complex, and range from acute to long-term. The Family Counselling Services have recently assumed particular responsibility to provide emotional and support services to this parent group. The study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of family therapists currently working with the parent group. A national sample of 21 therapists participated in the study. Data was collected based on focus-group interviews and analysed using themes from the Contextual Model presented by Wampold (2015). Responses covered the initial bond and the three therapeutic pathways offered by the model. Further, therapists had a positive attitude but also expressed their concerns. Providing supplemental services to the parent group had an excellent fit with the Family Counseling Services.