It's sort of like saying you're a professional parent- not to be mistaken with a perfect parent.
It means that you study, plan and work towards creating an environment that promotes attachment and makes your child feel safe. You evaluate and re-evaluate your child's needs and the best way to meet those needs.
From my perspective, being a parent should always involve these things, but it's taken to a new level when it comes to traumatized children. Thinking of myself as a therapeutic parent has been helpful when M is really struggling. It helps me to focus on my job as her mom it makes it easier not to take the behaviors personally. Parenting a child that hasn't learned to attach appropriately is a daunting task at times and sometimes it's easy to be too close to the situation. When we get in this rut I will remind myself of the role I should be playing and then I can start to think about how a behavioral therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, enter-in-every-other-therapist-you've-heard-of-here might handle the situation. Reminding myself that I'm not just her mom but the person who knows her best and is best equipped to help her (even when I don't feel that way) is critical to parenting to the best of my ability.
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