Parents and children will naturally be anxious about being separated from one another, this anxiety is often increased where there has been past trauma. It is often helpful to reassure people who might be anxious that child contact centres are safe places that have the interests of the child at the core of their work.
Centres will be quite familiar with supporting adults and children that need a little reassurance and often they will have tried and tested ways of helping individuals to engage and feel safe. Bearing in mind your professional knowledge of family, centres will often welcome any guidance you might be able to offer in meeting their needs. Centres often feel that external professionals do not work closely enough with them, so will often wholeheartedly embrace offers of support from proactive professionals.
On the NACCC website you will find information about the basic processes that centres go through in order to prepare families for the services they will receive. This information can often be helpful and reassuring. At the point of pre-visit parents’ emotions can run particularly high so parents might appreciate you supporting them to prepare or checking in with them after the session.
It is also wise to contact the centre, or to encourage the parent to do this. They will have a range of information about their service and how this operates that they will be happy to go through with you in the interests of being supportive.
