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| Dr. Rachel Haine-Schlagel adapted a toolkit for use in child welfare home visits. |
By
Michael Klitzing
While pursuing her Ph.D. in clinical psychology, Dr. Rachel Haine-Schlagel worked with children and families as a full-time clinician. She remembers being particularly struck by parents who didn’t seem engaged in treatment sessions. Some would text on their phones or ask to wait in the lobby. And she remembers how powerless that made her feel.
“It felt like heating the house with the windows open,” said Haine-Schlagel, now an associate professor in the Department of Child and Family Development at San Diego State University. “I was there and I was working with them, but I didn't think anything was going to be any different after we left that room. And that's really what it's all about. It's not what happens in that one hour as a therapist that you're with that family. It's what happens in those other 23 hours, times seven, until you see them again."
