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Felt Safety
Felt Safety is the feeling of safety; not just being told that you are safe, but the feeling that comes with an environment and people that will keep you physically, emotionally, and mentally safe.
Therapeutic parents practice felt safety by using line-of-vision supervision and the 6-foot rule (having your child within 6 feet at all times), door alarms on bedroom doors at night, tight structure in all aspects of daily life, and a simplified routine, environment, and schedule.
Nurture
Therapeutic parents use intentional nurturing practices such as snuggle time, Bruce Perry's 6R activities, family play time, the Daily Connection Plan, and reciprocity activities.
Using these types of practices allows the child to form a bond with their parent(s) and begin to trust them and love them.
Structure
Structure and routines that are consistent and predictable provide children with the feeling of felt safety and help to calm the internal chaos they feel and the external chaos they create.
Therapeutic parents use tight structure and set routines in their homes and daily activities, such as set meal times, consistent wake up and bedtimes, and a basic routine for chores, playtime, family activities, school, and life skills.
Small World
"Small world" is the phrase therapeutic parents use to refer to the size of their child's environment. In the beginning stages of healing, children need a small, safe environment in order to feel safe and create bonds with their parent(s).
This practice involves limiting the child's social circle, extracurricular activities, choices, and personal belongings. As the child heals, their world expands along with their growth and development.
Self-Care
Are you surprised to see this on a list of parenting practices? Parents must be able to provide their child with high levels of nurture and structure, which take a toll on a parent's physical, emotional, and mental health. Practicing self-care on a daily basis and ensuring that there is time away to rest and rejuvenate is key to parenting in a healthy, therapeutic manner!
Therapy/trauma work
Therapy and trauma work are not only necessary for our children, but for parents as well. We recommend each parent (and sometimes healthy siblings) have a therapist they can see on a regular basis on as-needed when life gets really hard.
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