ABSTRACT
The Oxford dictionary defines'parent' as "a person's father or mother". Webster's defines 'parent' as "one that begets or brings forth off-spring"; "the material or source from which something is derived". Patterns of parent-child interaction may come from parents' recall of their own interaction with their parents if what they remember is a 'happy childhood'. Therapeutic professional training during the 1900s focused on a disease model—what was wrong with the child. Early conversations were influenced by Freud and psychoanalysis and focused on 'projection', 'transference', and 'projective identification'. The explosion of research in neuroscience over the last two decades has affected all areas of psychology and education. Understanding how the brain develops and how it is affected by experiences is particularly important for those of us working with children and parents. The content of the professional training differs depending on the role that is going to be playing with children or families.
