Lauren is writing a book!
A reflective workbook exploring the confluence of identities who are both parents and helping professionals is coming soon! Please fill out the form below if you are interested in getting publication updates.
A reflective workbook exploring the confluence of identities who are both parents and helping professionals is coming soon! Please fill out the form below if you are interested in getting publication updates.
Excerpts from Confluence: A Reflective Workbook Exploring the Experience of Being Both Parent and Helping Professional
The confluence of identities of both parent and of child and family serving professionals, which includes providers in infant and early childhood care and education, early childhood development and medical fields, child and family therapists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, infant mental health (IMH) and perinatal mental health providers, and many other related professions, creates opportunities and challenges at work, and at home. Upon becoming parents, how we approach our work, how we see ourselves, and how we experience our clients and work are forever changed (Cousins, 2016). The experience of pregnancy for the expecting provider and their clients is nearly guaranteed to evoke strong and sometimes challenging feelings and reactions (Barbanel, 1980; Derringer Chandler, 2008). And yet, few professional articles or training materials have been published, nor do professional training programs address the shifts in practice following a professional’s pregnancy and continuing into their lives as parents (Barbanel, 1980; Derringer Chandler, 2008; Van Niel, 1993; Waldman, 2003). In research on therapeutic interventions and evaluations of child and family serving programs such as home visiting, providers’ demographics and identities, including gender and parenting status, are “largely absent” (Burruss-Cousins, 2022). In the limited body of work examining the impact of pregnancy and parenting on child and family-serving professionals, the experience of those who experience infertility, miscarriage, or infant loss is even more sparse and almost always focuses on the experiences of the therapist’s clients (Barbanel, 1980; Fuller, 1987; McCluskey, 2017). Once back to work following the birth of a child, parents may be surprised by internal shifts regarding approach to, engagement with, and commitment to their work (Waldman, 2003). The use of self-disclosure may shift as professionals become parents (Sheppard, 2000). As providers, now also parents, a new experience of shame and self-blame may emerge when our professional knowledge directly contradicts or challenges our parenting experience and practices, creating painful dissonance as theoretical knowledge is challenged by personal experience (Sheppard, 2000).
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What follows are a series of prompts intended to support exploration of themes related to the confluence of being both a parent and helping professional. Before diving into the reflective prompts, you will find an exploration of current literature and a summary of many interrelated topics. You might find the introduction a good place to start, or skip it entirely and quickly dive into the reflective prompts. You may find it helpful to spend some time thinking about your connection with some or all of the questions, you may find it beneficial to use the prompts as a springboard for journaling, or you may take the prompts and do something entirely different – it is up to you! I hope this workbook can also help reflective supervisors/consultants, teachers, trainers, and administrative and policy-level professionals think about infusing these ideas and prompts into supervision sessions, trainings, and workplace discussions of workplace policy, including how best to support working parents.
From Confluence: A Reflective Workbook Exploring the Experience of Being Both Parent and Helping Professional - by Lauren Gourley, LCSW - copyright 2024 - in print
The confluence of identities of both parent and of child and family serving professionals, which includes providers in infant and early childhood care and education, early childhood development and medical fields, child and family therapists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, infant mental health (IMH) and perinatal mental health providers, and many other related professions, creates opportunities and challenges at work, and at home. Upon becoming parents, how we approach our work, how we see ourselves, and how we experience our clients and work are forever changed (Cousins, 2016). The experience of pregnancy for the expecting provider and their clients is nearly guaranteed to evoke strong and sometimes challenging feelings and reactions (Barbanel, 1980; Derringer Chandler, 2008). And yet, few professional articles or training materials have been published, nor do professional training programs address the shifts in practice following a professional’s pregnancy and continuing into their lives as parents (Barbanel, 1980; Derringer Chandler, 2008; Van Niel, 1993; Waldman, 2003). In research on therapeutic interventions and evaluations of child and family serving programs such as home visiting, providers’ demographics and identities, including gender and parenting status, are “largely absent” (Burruss-Cousins, 2022). In the limited body of work examining the impact of pregnancy and parenting on child and family-serving professionals, the experience of those who experience infertility, miscarriage, or infant loss is even more sparse and almost always focuses on the experiences of the therapist’s clients (Barbanel, 1980; Fuller, 1987; McCluskey, 2017). Once back to work following the birth of a child, parents may be surprised by internal shifts regarding approach to, engagement with, and commitment to their work (Waldman, 2003). The use of self-disclosure may shift as professionals become parents (Sheppard, 2000). As providers, now also parents, a new experience of shame and self-blame may emerge when our professional knowledge directly contradicts or challenges our parenting experience and practices, creating painful dissonance as theoretical knowledge is challenged by personal experience (Sheppard, 2000).
...
What follows are a series of prompts intended to support exploration of themes related to the confluence of being both a parent and helping professional. Before diving into the reflective prompts, you will find an exploration of current literature and a summary of many interrelated topics. You might find the introduction a good place to start, or skip it entirely and quickly dive into the reflective prompts. You may find it helpful to spend some time thinking about your connection with some or all of the questions, you may find it beneficial to use the prompts as a springboard for journaling, or you may take the prompts and do something entirely different – it is up to you! I hope this workbook can also help reflective supervisors/consultants, teachers, trainers, and administrative and policy-level professionals think about infusing these ideas and prompts into supervision sessions, trainings, and workplace discussions of workplace policy, including how best to support working parents.
From Confluence: A Reflective Workbook Exploring the Experience of Being Both Parent and Helping Professional - by Lauren Gourley, LCSW - copyright 2024 - in print
