Striving for therapeutic relationships: parent-provider communication in the developmental treatment setting

The purpose of this grounded theory study is to develop a beginning substantive theory that explains the communication process between parents of children receiving center-based services for developmental delays and disabilities and the professional providers of those services. Communication is defined broadly as including both content and relationship dimensions. Twenty parents and 14 providers described their experience of communication with one another. The core phenomenon constructed from the data was striving for therapeutic relationships within a context of uncertainty. Both parents and providers operated in a context of uncertainty regarding the child and his or her development and prospects for the future as well as their expectations of each other. Both parents and providers used strategies of balancing, reading the cues, questioning, managing uncertainty, and managing the sessions. The outcomes were relationships that were valued by the extent to which they were perceived as therapeutic to parents and child.