ABSTRACT
Historically, families have been viewed as the cause of their child’s emotional and behavioral problems. Research, improved theories of family dynamics, and advances and improvements in the children’s mental health system led to changing roles for families of children who have emotional and behavioral problems. Families also realized the need to advocate for and support each other, creating state and national advocacy groups to provide parent support, training, and ensure family voice in providing services to youth. While family-driven care has become the standard, families of children with emotional and behavioral needs still experience stigma, shame, blame, and strain which can lead to isolation. This chapter discusses promising practices to provide peer-to-peer support for parents of children with emotional or behavioral problems through comprehensive interventions such as Parent Connectors. It will also discuss future directions for supporting families of youth with emotional or behavioral problems.
