The Carmack Model
Sometimes your concerns dont fit into a box but you’d still like parenting tips, advice and guidance. Because your little one didnt come with a guidebook, let me walk with you on your parenting journey to offer support and to support your child’s mental health.
How did The Carmack Model develop?
Before I entered private practice I worked as a mental health clinician in a non-profit clinic. I was lucky enough to work with a very skilled group of clinicians who all had our own specialties. As you can probably guess, my specialty was the little ones. Each time that a kiddo came into the clinic and received an evaluation, the entire clinical team would review it and make a treatment recommendation. Over time "The Carmack Model" became a treatment recommendation when the child or family didn't fit into any other category. Usually, the child didn't present enough symptoms to qualify for a mental health diagnosis (which was mandatory there) but the parent was expressing concern and asking for help. In other cases support was offered in an effort to provide early intervention, to prevent future treatment from being necessary. In any case, "The Carmack Model" meant that the family would have access to skills, tools, support, and guidance as it was needed.
What is The Carmack Model based on?
Attachment Theory
John Bowlby
This theory states that early relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life.
Behaviorism & Social Learning Theory
B.F. Skinner & Albert Bandura
These theories focus on how experience and our observation of others shapes who we are.
Psychosocial developmental theory
Erik Erickson
This theory explores how social interaction and relationships play a role in the development and growth of human beings.
Developmental Trauma Theory
Alicia Lieberman &
Patricia Van Horn
This theory builds on previous trauma theory linking traumatic experiences to mental health and addresses the consequences of early trauma in relation to abuse and neglect.
If you've spent some time getting to know me here, then you know that I have a pretty big nerd streak--I love science and I love research. I also believe strongly that there is no "one-size-fits-all" treatment and sometimes a family is best served with a more free form approach. The Carmack Model (I can probably make up an acronym, TCM it is!) pulls from all of my experience and training to create an individualized and personalized treatment plan for your family.
The freedom and flexibility of a parent consultation model like TCM means that we'll have even more opportunity to explore:
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your experience as a parent; your expectations and the reality
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your own mental health and how you're coping with your own stress
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emotion coaching yourself and your little one
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navigating co-parenting and grandparents
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sibling challenges, particularly when your kiddos respond to different parenting styles
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where your child is in meeting their developmental milestones
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what to do when your terrible two turns into a threenager and then into a fournado!
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and anything and everything else related to child development and raising a young child.
Get in touch today to find out what TCM and personalized parent consultation might look like for your family!
A word on Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
and Social Emotional Development
Many parents, pediatricians, and teachers are now well practiced in tracking a child's milestones across a range of developmental domains (e.g., cognitive, gross motor, fine motor, and language/communication) as they grow. While meeting these milestones is clearly important, one developmental domain has been most closely tied to a child's future success: social emotional learning and development.
As commonly defined, social-emotional development includes the child's experience, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others.
Social and emotional abilities are said to be indicators of how well a person adjusts to his or her environment, adapts to change and, ultimately, how successful she or he will be in life. In fact, research has indicated that core development abilities such as conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness and agreeableness can be as or even more important than cognitive intelligence in determining future employment. More immediately for the young child, a child's ability to successfully follow directions and routines, sit and attend to a book, and play cooperatively with peers is more indicative of school readiness and success than an incoming Kindergartner's ability to spell or write their name.
As I'm sure you've noticed (because smart kids have smart parents and smart kids are far and away the hardest to parent!) there is a lot of overlap between social emotional goals and the goals and outcomes of early childhood mental health. Investing in growing your parenting skills and toolbox during this important period of development will increase your kiddos ability to meet all of his/her social emotional milestones! Woo-hoo!