Individual Counseling and Parenting Groups for Mutual Help and Support – a Valuable Tool for Dealing With Challenges

Parent groups for mutual help and support are an old practice at Karin Dom, which over the years had established itself as an effective tool for supporting the entire family system around the child. Both parents and members of the extended family are welcome in the groups – grandparents, other relatives who provide support in the care for the child. Due to a number of reasons (pandemic, financial, etc.) the groups were temporarily suspended. In individual consultations with psychologists and social workers, parents shared their need to resume group meetings.

Within the framework of our partnership with the Medicor Foundation, we have the opportunity to provide valuable support for parents of children with special needs by conducting individual consultations and including them in parenting groups for mutual support, led by Virginia Vasileva, a qualified psychologist-psychotherapist and Zhenislava Sapundjieva, a social psychologist.

Within the group, parents can exchange information, ideas and experiences, find emotional and social support and get advice on dealing with various life problems concerning the family, the role of parents and the behavior of their children, their inclusion in the life of the community. Parents share daily problems and challenges, exchange experiences and valuable advice, and this gives them courage and motivation to move forward.

Parents whose children have different development specifics often encounter misunderstanding and lack of support in their social circle (extended family, friends, society). Sometimes families isolate themselves and cut off contact with the outside world. In the group they find new acquaintances and share similar experiences. Together with other parents who are in a similar situation, they discuss challenges and seek solutions regarding their children’s behaviors, therapies, education and socialization. They have the opportunity to share this in a safe environment and hear new, different perspectives on what they share.