Introduce
Some families will find it particularly difficult to engage or co-operate. There is a wide range of challenging behaviours that might be directed towards professionals. Are any of the following behaviours familiar to you?
- Ambivalence: the state of being uncertain or conflicted
- Confrontation: hostile and argumentative interactions
- Avoidance: resisting engagement
- Violence: intimidating behaviour that threatens or attacks
- Disguised compliance: the appearance of co-operation to avoid suspicion
Develop
It is important that practitioners are professionally curious, in response to these behaviours. This can lead to challenging conversations but ultimately ensures that nothing is taken at face value and that practitioners are confident to ask direct questions and think outside the box. Curious practitioners will spend time engaging with families, using their skills to ask questions, seek clarity and question their own assumptions.
Reflect
Stop and Reflect: It can be very difficult to manage these challenging behaviours when working with families. Take some time to reflect:
– How do you make sense of hostile responses from families that you work with?
– What might the parents or families be trying to communicate through their behaviour?
– How can you work to improve the chances of favourable outcomes for the families that might be displaying these behaviours?