Parent Consultation & Filial Therapy

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Understand your child more deeply -

and feel more confident in how you respond.

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You know your child better than anyone. And yet there are moments - or maybe whole seasons - where nothing you try seems to help. Where the behaviour keeps happening, the connection feels strained, and you're not sure what your child actually needs from you.

 

Parent consultation is a space to slow down and make sense of what's going on. Not to be told what you're doing wrong - but to develop a deeper understanding of your child, and to find ways of responding that feel more natural, more connected, and more effective.

 

​There's no shortage of parenting tips, strategies, and information online. What's harder to find is someone who can help you understand your specific child - their temperament, their developmental stage, their history, and what their particular behaviour is communicating.

That's what parent consultation with me offers.

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With over 15 years of experience working with children and families across complex settings - including trauma, child protection, family breakdown, and neurodiversity - I bring a deep clinical understanding of child development, attachment, and behaviour to every session. We don't work from a script. We work from your child's story.

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Behaviour is always communication

 

Every child who is struggling is trying to tell us something. The meltdowns, the shutdowns, the defiance, the clinginess, the withdrawal - these aren't random. They're signals. And when we understand what a child is communicating through their behaviour - what they need, what they're scared of, what they haven't yet found words for - everything shifts.

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This is the lens I bring to parent consultation. Rather than focusing on just managing a behaviour, we also focus on understanding it. What is your child carrying? What does their nervous system need? How is their developmental stage, their diagnosis (if applicable), or their early experiences shaping the way they're showing up right now?

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When that picture becomes clearer, parents find they respond differently - with more curiosity, more confidence, and more connection. And children, feeling understood rather than corrected, begin to settle.

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You are your child's most powerful support

 

The research on what helps children thrive is clear: the relationship with a safe, attuned caregiver is the single most powerful factor. Not the therapy room - the everyday moments at home.

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That's why parent consultation is one of the most valuable investments you can make in your child's wellbeing. When parents develop a deeper understanding of their child's needs and adjust their responses accordingly, the change is felt throughout the whole family system.

 

This isn't about becoming a perfect parent. It's about becoming a more curious one - someone who can pause, wonder about what their child might be experiencing, and respond from that place rather than from frustration or fear.

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Most parents who engage in this work find that their relationship with their child shifts - often in ways they didn't expect - and that the behaviours that felt so entrenched begin to soften over time.

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What parent consultation can help with

 

Sessions are tailored to your child and your family's specific situation. Common areas we explore include:

• Understanding your child's emotional and behavioural patterns

• What your child's behaviour is communicating and why

• Child development, temperament, and neurodiversity (ADHD, Autism, sensory processing)

• Co-regulation — how to support your child to manage big emotions

• Strengthening connection and reducing conflict at home

• Supporting your child through anxiety, school difficulties, or family change

• Navigating transitions, separation, grief, or trauma

• Responding to your child in ways that feel warm, boundaried, and effective

• Understanding how your own responses and history may be shaping the dynamic

 

How parent consultation works

 

Parent consultation sessions are 50 minutes and can take place in person in Wheelers Hill or via Zoom. They are available as standalone sessions or as an ongoing series depending on your needs.

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Some parents come for a single consultation to work through a specific concern. Others find it useful to meet regularly over a period of weeks or months, particularly where the child is also in therapy and we are working as a team around the family.

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Where your child is seeing me for play therapy or counselling, parent consultation forms an important part of the process - keeping you informed, involved, and equipped to extend the therapeutic work into everyday life at home.

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Parent consultation may be right for you if...

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• Your child is experiencing emotional or behavioural difficulties and you want to understand what's driving them

• You've been told strategies but they don't seem to work for your child

• Your child has a diagnosis (ADHD, Autism, anxiety) and you want support understanding what that means day to day

• You feel like you and your child are stuck in a negative cycle and want help breaking it

• Your child is seeing a therapist and you want to be an active part of the process

• You want to understand how your own responses are affecting your child and how to shift them

• You're navigating a significant change - separation, family stress, a new sibling, school transition - and want support doing that well

 

Parent-Child Relationship Therapy (Filial Therapy)

 

Sometimes the most powerful work happens not in the therapy room with your child alone — but in the space between you.

 

Filial therapy is an evidence-based approach that works directly with the parent-child relationship. Rather than the therapist working with the child individually, I train and support parents to conduct special child-centred play sessions with their child at home. Over time, these sessions become a regular, protected space for connection - and a powerful vehicle for change.

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The approach draws on the same principles as play therapy: that children communicate through play, that the relationship with a safe and attuned caregiver is the most healing force in a child's life, and that parents, when supported well, become their child's most powerful therapeutic agent.

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Filial therapy can be a natural next step for families already engaged in parent consultation — deepening the work by bringing it into the everyday relationship at home. It can also work as a standalone approach, particularly where strengthening the parent-child connection is the primary focus, rather than individual therapy for the child.

 

It is suitable for a wide range of concerns, including:

• Attachment difficulties or disconnection between parent and child

• Children experiencing anxiety, withdrawal, or emotional dysregulation

• Families navigating significant change — separation, new siblings, trauma, or family stress

• Parents who want a more active, hands-on role in their child's healing

• Children who have previously engaged in play therapy and whose parents want to extend and embed the gains at home

 

Sessions involve a combination of teaching, supported practice, and reflective discussion — with the goal of building your confidence and skills as a therapeutic parent over time.

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If you're wondering whether filial therapy might be right for your family, get in touch and we can talk it through.

 

Ready to understand your child more deeply?

 

Getting in touch is the first step.

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You're welcome to reach out with a brief description of what's going on for your family, and we can have a no-pressure conversation about whether parent consultation might be helpful.

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Sessions available in person in Wheelers Hill, VIC and online across Victoria.​​