Introduction
Hello Everyone!
My name is Dishita Kolla and my project will be based on exploring the effects of parent involvement in therapy for children with behavioral health issues. Therefore my research questions are: Why is therapy involving parents more recommended for minors with behavioral health issues? How does family therapy compare to other forms of therapy available to minors? How does family therapy actually affect the child’s behavioral health improvement? This topic is particularly interesting because the aim of therapy for the children is to help them change their behavior not only when they are in the in-patient department but also after they complete their therapy at the hospital and move on to the next stage. For this, it is suggested that the parents participate in therapy as well in order to help the family adapt to a transitioned lifestyle following discharge.
My personal interest in this topic arose when I began volunteering at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center. The Child Life Director suggested that I volunteer in the pediatric behavioral health department after I spoke to her about my interest in child psychology. Unfortunately, I was not able to actually start volunteering because they couldn’t have me in there at the time I came in since it happened to be the children’s dinner and bedtime so they did not need much help. This did not lessen my interest in this field though; I continued learning about the field, the people who work in it and their experiences. I read multiple interviews with child psychiatrists who talked about the care and attention these children need and even when I was talking with the Child Life Director at Banner, she explained how I would need to give individual attention to these children. This further piqued my interest when brainstorming topics. I was suggested to look into the family therapy that is provided. I thought about how I could look into how the readiness of the parents to dedicate extra attention to these children affect them.
My internship will take place at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, where I will intern at their in-patient behavioral health department. To determine an answer to my question, I will be surveying the staff who work with children on their opinion regarding the effect of therapy with parents on the progression of the children. The survey would ask questions relating to their past experiences with family therapy for different cases and how they believe it has affected the child. The survey would also ask for how their experience has shaped their belief on which method of therapy they see to be affecting the progress of the child most positively.
Internship Location
https://www.bannerhealth.com/locations/glendale/banner-thunderbird-medical-center
Thank You,
Dishita Kolla
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