Parent Consultation
The Future of School Psychology Task
Force on Family-School Partnerships
Susan Sheridan, Michelle Swanger-Gagne, Kathryn
Woods, Kathryn Black, Jennifer Burt, S. Andrew
Garbacz, Ashley Taylor
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Definition
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Parent consultation within school psychology
is defined as a structured, indirect,
collaborative, problem-solving relationship
between the psychologist (consultant) and
one or more parent consultees (Sheridan,
Kratochwill, & Bergan, 1996).
Rationale for Using Parent
Consultation
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Federal initiatives such as IDEA and NCLB highlight
importance of collaborating with families.
Learning occurs across many settings and contexts.
There are several systems that interact to support the child’s
development.
Children spend more time out of school than they do in school
(Usdan, 1991, cited in Ooms & Hara, 1991).
Maximizing the extent to which these systems work together on
behalf of the child can close the achievement gap for students
who are not succeeding in school.
Rationale for Using Parent
Consultation cont.

Attempts to provide comprehensive mental
health services without support and followthrough by parents or significant others lead to:
Disjointed and fragmented services
 Lack of follow-through (generalization)
 Unreasonable case loads
 Significant job stress
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(Kratochwill, VanSomeren, & Sheridan, 1989)
Key Characteristics of
Parent Consultation
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Indirect service delivery (triadic model) carried out
via a joint, problem-solving process.
Work-related focus (not therapeutic); consultation is
NOT counseling!
Participants: Consultant, consultee, client.
Voluntary, collegial relationship that involves parity
& interdependence.
 Roles of participants are both defined and varied;
each participant brings his or her own expertise
to the process.
Indirect Service
(Triadic) Model
Consultant
Consultee
Client
Evidence-based
Models and Practices
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Parent Behavioral Consultation
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See PC Handout 1
Conjoint Behavioral Consultation
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See PC Handout 2
Parent Behavioral Consultation (BC)
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Parent consultation has been shown to foster family-school
partnerships (Christenson & Cleary, 1990), and is a relatively
easy, time-limited, and cost-effective method of service delivery
(Sheridan, Kratochwill, & Bergan, 1996).
Parent consultation is an effective mode of treatment delivery
for a variety of school-related behavioral concerns (Sheridan,
Eagle, Cowan, & Mickelson, 2001).
Areas in which parent consultation has proven to be effective
include:
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Aggression, social skills, noncompliance, social withdrawal,
homework completion, school phobia, language skills, tic disorder,
and anxiety (Christenson & Sheridan, 2001).
Parent BC
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Most common model of parent consultation (Sheridan
et al., 1996).
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Structured model with four interview stages: Problem
Identification, Problem Analysis, Treatment
Implementation, and Treatment Evaluation.
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Can address a variety of child behavioral problems:
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Academic and Adjustment Problems
Social Withdrawal
Electively Mute Behavior
Tics
What is Parent BC?
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An indirect form of service delivery in which a
child’s needs are met by a parent working with a
consultant to develop, implement, and evaluate
intervention strategies (Sheridan et al., 1996).
Developed within the principles of applied
behavior analysis.
Stages of Parent BC
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Problem Identification
Problem Analysis
Treatment (Plan) Implementation
Treatment (Plan) Evaluation
See detailed discussion of stages in CBC section
Parent BC
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Models using joint consultation with parents and
teachers received the highest ratings of evidence for
significant change and methodological rigor.
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Conjoint Behavioral Consultation provides the strongest evidence for
producing significant school-related outcomes based on information
obtained from parents and teachers (Sheridan, et al., 2001).
Conclusions based on single-participant studies
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Researchers recognize need for between group design
studies to further knowledge base in parent behavioral
consultation and conjoint behavioral consultation.
Conjoint Behavioral Consultation
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A structured, indirect form of service delivery in which teachers and parents
are brought together to collaboratively identify and address students’ needs
(Sheridan et al., 1996; Sheridan & Kratochwill, 1992).
Extension of the traditional behavioral consultation model that serves
parents and teachers at the same time.
Interview stages are the same as in that of behavioral consultation, except
that stages are conducted in a simultaneous (rather than parallel) manner.
Parents and teachers collaborate to:
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Address the academic, behavioral, and social concerns of a child
Monitor a child’s behavior
Design an intervention
Rated by parents and teachers as the most acceptable consultation approach
for academic, behavioral, and social-emotional problems when compared
with teacher consultation models (Freer & Watson, 1999).
Process Goals of CBC

Improve communication and knowledge about child and family.
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Increase commitments to educational goals.
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Address problems across, rather than within, settings.
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Promote shared ownership for need identification and solution.
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Promote greater conceptualization of a need.
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Increase the diversity of expertise and resources available.
Process Goals of CBC
(continued)
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Establish and strengthen home-school partnerships;
enhance the family-school relationship.
 Refers to a mutual effort toward a shared goal.
 Contains the philosophy, attitude, and belief that
both families and educators are essential for
children’s progress in school.
 Working together to promote the academic and
social development of students.
Outcomes Goals of CBC
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Obtain comprehensive and functional data over
extended temporal and contextual bases.
Identify potential setting events that are temporally or
contextually distal to target.
Improve skills and knowledge of all parties.
Establish consistent programming across settings.
Monitor behavioral contrast and side effects
systematically via cross-setting treatment agents.
Develop skills and competencies for future conjoint
problem solving.
Enhance generalization and maintenance of treatment
effects.
Stages of CBC
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Conjoint Needs Identification
Conjoint Needs Analysis
Conjoint Plan Implementation
Conjoint Needs Evaluation
See PC Handout 3
Conjoint Needs Identification
Goals Include:
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Behaviorally define the concern or problem as it is
represented in the home and/or school environment.
Explore environmental conditions that may be
contributing to or motivating problem behaviors
(antecedent, consequent, and sequential conditions).
Provide a tentative strength of the behavior.
Determine a goal for consultation.
Establish a procedure for the collection of baseline
data.
Conjoint Need Identification
Considerations:

Priorities for need identification and resolution are identified
conjointly, with emphasis on shared perspectives and decision
making.
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The primary concern may be identical across settings, or it may
represent a unique emphasis based on system specific factors.
Careful specification and operational definitions of concern
is essential to ensure shared understanding of the problem,
direct focus of an intervention, and consistent progress
monitoring. Write it down!
Clarify specific settings within systems that will be the focus
for intervention.
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Helps to focus and simplify intervention procedures.
Conjoint Needs Identification
Considerations continued:
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Explore within and across setting environmental
factors that may contribute to or “motivate”
behaviors.
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Setting events: Antecedent, consequent, or sequential
variables that may occur in a time or place that is distal to
the target behavior, but still influence its occurrence.
Discuss approximate strength of problem (e.g.,
frequency, severity, intensity) and shared goals for
resolution.
Conjoint Needs Identification
Considerations continued:
Baseline data collection procedures are established to
clarify the specific nature and severity of concerns,
determine important environmental and setting
events, and set the stage for careful, systematic, databased decision making.
 Parents and teachers should assist in determining the
most feasible and meaningful way to collect data.
 Make it easy by providing forms and/or using
permanent or tangible evidence.
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Conjoint Needs Analysis
Goals Include:
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Evaluate and obtain agreement on the sufficiency and
adequacy of baseline data.
Identify setting events, ecological conditions, and crosssetting variables that may be impacting the target
concern.
Collaboratively design an effective intervention plan
that is sensitive to setting-specific variables.
Reaffirm record-keeping procedures.
Conjoint Needs Analysis
Considerations:
Baseline data collected across settings are explored.
 Trends across settings (e.g. home and school) are
investigated; cross setting conditions and setting
events are highlighted when appropriate.
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Are there common things that happen across settings that
trigger or maintain a behavior?
 Do events occurring in one setting trigger or contribute to
a behavior in another setting?
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Conjoint Needs Analysis
Considerations continued:
Consultant should direct discussion around possible
environmental conditions that may be contributing
to the need, in a collaborative and supportive nature.
 When eliciting parent’s and teacher’s perceptions
about purpose or functions of the behavior,
environmental explanations can then be identified.
 Interpretation of the problem in terms of
environmental contingencies provides an important
link between assessment and intervention.
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Conjoint Plan Development
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Together, the consultant and parent establish general
strategies and specific plan tactics that might be used in
a treatment package.
Strategies should be related to the
hypothesis/interpretation statement.
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Example: If child acts out to avoid doing schoolwork at home (escape),
what would and would not be appropriate intervention strategies??
Brainstorming techniques are often useful to generate
ideas -- a nonjudgmental attitude is essential!
Summarize the plan, being clear about what is to be
done, when, how, and by whom... Write it down!
Conjoint Plan Implementation
Goals Include:
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Monitor implementation of the intervention.
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Provide training if necessary.
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Assess behavioral side effects and contrast effects; is the
treatment causing any unforeseen problems or effects?
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Determine the need for immediate revisions of the plan.
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Continue data collection procedures.
Conjoint Plan Evaluation
Goals Include:
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Determine if the shared goals of consultation have
been attained.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the plan across settings.
Discuss strategies and tactics regarding the
continuation, modification, or termination of the
treatment plan across settings.
Schedule additional interviews if necessary.
Discuss ways to continue conjoint problem solving and
shared decision making.
Considerations for Effective
Consultation Practices
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Parents generally want what is best for their child, and
to cooperate on his/her behalf.
Parents and other family members know a great deal
about their child.
It is important to understand the distinction between
what you know and what the parents know about the
child.
Interventions must be modified to meet the unique
needs of each child and family.
Considerations for Effective
Consultation Practices
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There is a professional obligation to include families when
possible in the decision making process.
Parents have a right to be fully aware of possible implications
and responsibilities of interventions.
Each family has its own strengths.
There are many reasons, often unknown to professionals, why
parents are or are not involved.
Parents generally want to be involved, but they do not necessarily
know the best way they can help their child, or how to approach
schools and professionals.
There are many ways that parents can help.
Practical Considerations
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Process Variables
 Strategies must be modified and adapted to work with various types of
families.
 Methods take time to develop and see results.
 Facilitate effective communication:
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Control conflict by reframing and rephrasing negative statements. Remain
positive.
Cultural Considerations
 More research has to be dedicated to investigating the effectiveness of
parent consultation with diverse populations.
 Replication studies needed across diverse cultural and ethnic groups.
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Reflection
Clarification
Use of Silence
Summarization
Paraphrasing
Listening and attending
Effective questioning: Open ended questioning
Reflection
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Thinking about your role as a consultant within a
consultation relationship involves:
 Not interjecting your own opinion or personal
agenda
 Demonstrating an open-minded attitude
 Communicating appropriately,
 Managing group dynamics, and
 Incorporating diversity
Clarification
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Being clear about one’s actions.
Providing open opportunities to talk.
The goal is to hear and understand the consultee, not to
use questions in a rote and mechanical fashion.
Allows consultees to explore topics and come up with
creative solutions to problems.
Use of Silence
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The definition of “silence” is relative to each conversation’s
tempo and patterns of speech.
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Alternatives to silence: interruptions, talkovers, reduced verbal
spacing, thoughtless verbalizations to “fill silence”.
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Try to develop a habit of protecting verbal space; avoid verbal
crowding.
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Use your own silence as an opportunity for collecting your
thoughts and directing the interview.
Summarization
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A collection of two or more paraphrases or reflections
based on critical dimensions of consultee’s statements.
Focuses interview by condensing and clarifying what
was said.
Identifies common theme.
Moderates pace of interview and reviews progress.
Serves as transitional statement.
Paraphrasing
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Restating in one’s own words the main points of
consultee’s statements.
Conveys understanding.
Repeats essence of message (“You’re telling me
that...”).
Promotes consultee decision-making.
Encourages elaboration.
Listening
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The ability of consultants to capture and understand
consultees’ messages.
The goal is understanding!
Another purpose of listening is to establish rapport.
• Listening demonstrates concern and a desire to
understand the person and situation.
• Allows you to demonstrate understanding, which is
important in relationship building.
Attending
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The consultant is effectively within the interview,
demonstrated by listening carefully and remaining
attentive to the consultee.
The consultant follows what the consultee is saying and
does not interrupt or jump from subject to subject (i.e.,
pursues issues when they arise, and stays with them for
a sufficient and appropriate amount of time).
Attending cont.
Strategies used to orient toward the consultee; suggests
“presence.”
S: Sit squarely
H: Have an open posture
A: Acknowledge
R: Relax
E: Engage using Eye communication
Effective Questioning:
Open Ended Questioning
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The consultant uses open questions:
To elicit examples of specific behaviors resulting in a
better understanding of what is being described by
the consultee, and to
 Carefully and selectively encourage consultee
elaboration, thereby gaining additional pertinent
information on specific points.
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Effective Questioning:
Open Ended Questioning cont.

Questions should be selected carefully to:
 Encourage consultee expressiveness
 Allow a clear and comprehensive picture of the
situation
 Increase the consultee’s active participation
 Decrease resistance and defensiveness by trying to
understand
Effective Questioning:
Open Ended Questioning cont.
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Open questions:
 Help begin an interview.
 Encourage consultees to elaborate on a specific
point.
 Help elicit examples of specific behavior.
 Allow consultant to better understand what is being
described by consultee.
 Allow consultant to retain “control” of the
interview, but convey the fact that the relationship is
also important.
See PC Handout 4
Challenges
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Lack of training in how to effectively consult with parents.
Structural barriers.
Narrow approach to roles for parents.
Limited time and resources for consultation.
Scheduling difficulties.
Misunderstanding between home and school systems.
Dealing with and managing conflict.
Separating the person from the issue.
Focusing on mutual interests.
Financial costs.
Exploring options prior to making decisions.
Basing decisions on objective information.
See also Overview of Family-School Partnerships Module
Solutions
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Educate schools systems about parent consultation. Explain that
it is…
 Evidence based
 Cost-effective
 Relatively easy
 Time limited
Build the bridge between home and school systems.
School psychologist’s need to educate school systems about their
role as psychological consultants.
Solutions (continued)
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Allow consultants to have flex time in their schedules.
Establish a cooperative approach that promotes a “win/win”
result.
Focus on positive educational outcomes for students.
Ensure that a reasonable amount of information is brought to
the table.
Minimizes potential for emotionally laden decisions on both
parts.
Focus on shared goals (e.g., the child’s success).
Be involved in policy. Join local, state, and federal committees.
Manage conflict.
Make positive phone-calls to parents to share good news.
Spend time on connecting families and educators.
Future Directions
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Employ the use of between group designs to contribute to
methodological rigor of literature.
Employ single-participant research designs with stronger internal
validity (i.e., multiple baselines, control for within-subject
variance).
Report effect size in research publications.
Increase the use of outcome measures with strong reliability and
validity data.
Replication studies across consultants and participants.
Extend research findings to parents and teachers of middle and
high school aged students.
Investigate effectiveness of parent consultation among diverse
populations in terms of ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
Future Directions
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Encourage scientist-practitioners to conduct and
publish evaluations of parent consultation services as a
school-based intervention service.
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Continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of parent
consultation for a variety of needs and concerns.
Case Study: Jackie
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4-year-old female
Caucasian, African-American
First year in Headstart classroom
Past experiences in daycare setting
Preconsultation
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Background
School:
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Headstart classroom with a total of 18 children
Class from 8am to 12:10pm
After school she goes to a daycare setting
Home:
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Lives with single, working mother
CNII
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Discuss Strengths
School:
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Intelligent- ready for kindergarten
Liked by peers
Creative and imaginative
Home:
 Great imagination
 Smart-Verbalizes well
 Fun-loving
Both the mother and teacher noted the same strengths and
this led to bonding
CNII cont.
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Discuss Needs
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School:
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Noncompliance
Running away
Dangerous behaviors (e.g. climbing on tables, out of
sight)
Home:
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Noncompliance
Bedtime schedule
CNII cont.
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Desires and Priorities
School desires:
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Home desires:
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Compliance
Decrease disruptive behavior
Teach child about safety
To increase positive experiences with child (i.e.,improve their relationship)
To go out in public without problems
Compliance and less temper tantrums
Priority= the shared desire, Compliance
CNII cont.
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Define Goals
School and Home:
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Shared goals
Increase compliance at home and school to improve the
safety and relationships
Improve home-school communication
Increase positive interactions between child and teacher and
mother
CNII cont.
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What Has Been Tried?
School:
 They tried talking with her about the problem by problem
solving and giving her choices
 Relaxation strategies
 Chair away from the group
Home:
 Time-out or take away privileges
 Try to ignore behavior or repeat the request
CNAI
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Collaborative Plan
School:
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The intervention: (a) beat the buzzer, (b) praise and a
reinforcement program (star program), (c) consistent
consequence, (d) group positive behavior game (tootling
program)
Teacher wanted to expand off already existent strategies that
were used in the class
Home:
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The intervention: (a) praise and reward system for behavior at
school, (b) active ignoring, (c) child’s game, and (d) selfcoping card for the mother
CPEI
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Observe and Reflect
School:
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Home:
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Less improvement so everyone discussed possible modifications
Eventually after the last intervention improvement with
compliance and tantrums occurred
Increased compliance at home
More positive interactions between the mother and child
School and Home:
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Less tantrums at both home and school
School and Home environments are more aware of what is
occurring in the other setting
CPEI cont.
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Follow-up
Another meeting to see if modifications helped
Planned for kindergarten
Continue communication between home and
school
Home-visit
Continue use of strategies at home and school
Exchange resources
Views About Process
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Teacher:
 She liked the problem solving process
 She liked working with the parents and hearing their points of view
and ideas for improving school
 All the children improved from the group program
 She said she could use this process on her own with parents in the
future
Mother:
 She said she felt like she learned many strategies for helping her
child at home and school
 She felt like her relationship with her child was positive
 She said the process helped her feel comfortable talking to the
teacher
See Case Study Handouts 1 & 2
Discussion Questions

See PC Handout 5 for questions for consideration or
discussion
References
Christenson, S. L. & Cleary, M. (1990). Consultation and the parent-educator partnership: A
perspective. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 1, 219-241.
Freer, P. & Watson, T. S. (1999). A comparison of parent and teacher acceptability ratings of
behavioral and conjoint behavioral consultation. School Psychology Review, 28, 672-684.
Kratochwill, T.R., VanSomeren, K.R., & Sheridan, S.M. (1989). Training behavioral consultants: A
competency-based model to teach interview skills. Professional School Psychology, 4, 41-58.
Ooms, T., & Hara, S. (1991). The family-school partnership: A critical component of school reform.
The Family Impact Seminar. Washington, DC: American Association of Marriage and Family
Therapy.
Sheridan, S. M., Eagle, J. W., Cowan, R. J. & Mickelson, W. (2001). The effects of conjoint behavioral
consultation: results of a 4-year investigation. Journal of School Psychology, 39, 361-385.
Sheridan, S. M. & Kratochwill, T. R. (1992). Behavioral parent teacher consultation: Conceptual and
research considerations. Journal of School Psychology, 30, 117-139.
Sheridan, S. M., Kratochwill, T. R. & Bergen, J. R. (1996). Conjoint behavioral consultation: A procedural
manual. New York: Plenum Press.