Reference no: EM131339372

Human service professionals are sometimes in the position of being an advocate, mediator, or liaison between parents with needs and possible services.  Read the following vignette and answer the 3 questions that follow:

You receive a phone call from a parent whom you met during a parent information night at a local elementary school.  The parent had stopped by to look at tge various brochures on child rearing that you provided and later asked you to recommend a book on parenting.  During the phone call, the parent says, "Thanks for mentioning that book the other evening.  We got some helpful ideas from it, and things with our daughter have started to improve.  She is less likely to throw a tantrum when we drop her off at school, and we are less short tempered too.  But I'm calling because we feel like we still need some guidance.  We think we have a close relationship with our daughter and want that to continue.  We also want her to know that we have our limits and have certain expectations about how she'll behave both at school and at home.  I know you do counseling, but that seems unnecessary and a little too personal at this point.  Other than recommending books or being our counselor, can you provide us with some help?  We would really like to see what options we have."  

1. What different roles could a counselor assume to promote this parent's child-rearing skills?

2. What counselor roles might best complement the parent's level of interest and likely level of involvement in services?

3. What else would you like to know about the family as you apply these counselor roles to this particular situation?