Session 10/21

Promoting relations work in practical tasks

Theme of the session: In session 6 (How to practice professional care) you learned how to practice relations work while you perform daily practical tasks. In this session, we will focus on how to manage interactions and teach children about limits and roles. Many children in care feel they don’t belong and may not understand physical and emotional boundaries. They may not have learned how to act in relationships or follow a family’s daily routine. They need help understanding what to talk about, when, and where.  For example, can a child just take another child’s things without asking? Is a child aware that it must help prepare food, or do its homework? Do we talk in a loud voice or in a calm voice to each other? This is a learning process for both the child and the foster family. A child might behave differently in different settings, leading to different opinions on how the child should be supported (for example: many conflicts at home, no conflicts at school, or vice versa). Foster parents need to work together to agree on the child’s needs and how to help them.

Aims of the session:

• To support the social development of the child in it’s daily interactions.
• To inspire the foster family in finding new roles and ways of setting limits when a new child enters the family, so that all members feel informed and respected.
• To create a mutual understanding of the child and it’s needs in the local network where the child lives.

Competences to be exercised:

• To strengthen the child’s sense of having a personal and physical space as a secure base for relations in the foster family.
• To make the children placed in care feel that they belong in the family and help them learn how to behave in the daily family life.
• To engage all family members in finding their roles and boundaries as members of the foster family.
• To cooperate with the foster family’s network in order to make all parties agree on a mutual understanding of the child’s needs, and how to help the child function.

A caregiver can do relational work while during practical tasks by having a dialogue. For example, the caregiver can talk about her/his own childhood or ask about the well-being of the child.