Tutorial 5 · Partnering with Families in Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
Element 1: Respect and Trust (continued)
These types of actions just explored are common and best-practice yet there are more complex considerations around respecting families to explore.
One consideration is acknowledging, understanding and embracing diversity in culture; both our own and others. Culture involves more than language, race, or ethnicity. Culture encompasses a person’s belief systems, traditions, views and attitudes.
Learning about and actively working to understand a family’s culture indicates that their perspectives are acknowledged, understood, and valued. It also provides important information that can influence the process of forming partnerships and a family’s active participation in the consultation process. Exploring a family’s culture can help you:
"Each baby is born into a unique family that has its own culture and history, its own strengths and its own way of coping with stress and adversity."
Parlakian & Seibel, 2002
- Understand more clearly the family’s needs. A family's background, including their traditions, beliefs, primary language and religious beliefs, influence how parents perceive their child’s mental health concerns, their responsibility in partnering, and the services that they will support.
- Work together to obtain the best strategies for the child. Strategies that the family is part of creating and implementing upon can lead to greater family involvement, more favorable outcomes, more rewarding interpersonal experience and increased family satisfaction.
This website was made possible by grant number 90YD0268 from the Office of Head Start, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views or policies of the funding agency nor does publication in any way constitute an endorsement by the funding agency.
