Attachment Therapy Homework

We had to cancel our attachment therapy due to kiddo's immobility, but the leader of our sessions sent us a copy of her outline that she uses and told us where she'd like to focus.

The categories are:

Structure: Safety, Organization, Regulation: Set Limits
Define boundaries, Keeps child safe, helps complete sequence of activities, relieve child of burden of being in control

Engagement: Connection, Attunement, Acceptance, Expand Positive Affect

Establish and maintain connection. Focus on child in intense way. Entice child into enjoying new experience.

Nurture: Regulation, Secure Base (safe haven), Worthiness

Reinforce message that child is worthy of care and that adult will provide care without child having to ask

Challenge:  Competence, Confidence, Support Exploration

Help child feel more competent and confident by encouraging to take slight risks and to accomplish activity with adult help

She said kiddo is doing very well with all the challenge activities and would like hubs and her to focus on some of the nurturing activities.

Some of the activities that promote nuturing are touching the child gently with a cotton ball while her eyes are closed and once she opens her eyes, she'll tell what she was touched at. Other is making jewelry out of play doh or other random items and placing them on the child; painting her face; applying lotion to her hands or feet; make a print on paper and shake powder on the paper to show the print; just applying lotion are powder in general, singing a lullaby that's tailed to your child, manicures and pedicures; painting hands and feet and making prints of them.

Our personal lullabys are:

soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur

sleepy kitty, pretty kitty, purr, purr, purr

soft puppy, warm puppy, little ball of fur

crazy puppy, cute puppy, grrr, grrr, grrr

one kitty verse for each cat, one puppy verse for each dog, and one of the puppy verses ends Lucifer, instead of grrr, grrr, grrr

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

what a special girl you are

beautiful red hair and soft, soft cheeks

big brown eyes from which you peek

twinkle, twinkle, little star,

what a special girl you are

I do one verse for each pet and then twinkle, twinkle little star, while rubbing her back at night to get her to sleep.

Every once in a while, when she's wound up or way silly I'll also sing:

soft monkey, crazy monkey, little girl of mine....

What activities do you all do with your kids to promote nurturing.  That's by far the area we have the most work to do in, although huge strides have been made.  

Engagement could stand some practice too, in my opinion, although she really hasn't made note of that.  She did say she's seen significant progress in kiddo over the time she's been with us and that we should be very proud of her (we are)