Meet Adriana Buzetto: Practical Parenting Support

Why I Started Training Parents in Therapeutic Parenting

Helping children overcome emotional and behavioural challenges isn’t always about finding a therapist for your a child. Sometimes, the most meaningful changes happen when parents become part of the therapeutic process.

Looking Beyond the Therapy Room

During the early years of my career as a child psychotherapist, I worked primarily one-to-one with children, both in schools and privately. I supported children experiencing a wide range of emotional, behavioural and relationship difficulties. Alongside this, I worked closely with parents, offering consultations and guidance to help them better understand and support their children. Over time, however meaningful this work was, I began to feel that something important was being missed.

While the relationship between a child and their therapist can be deeply transformative, I became increasingly aware of the enormous potential of involving parents more directly in the therapeutic process. After all, parents are the people who know their children best. They are there for the everyday moments, the difficult emotions, the challenging behaviours and the opportunities for connection. I wanted to find a way to bring therapeutic principles into those everyday family relationships, rather than limiting the work to the therapy room.

Discovering Child-Parent Relationship Therapy

In 2009, years after my Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy MA, I decided to train in Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) with Garry L Landreth at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education. CPRT is a therapeutic approach that helps parents develop specific play-based skills to use with their own children.

Through regular, structured play sessions, parents learn how to create a safe space where children can express their feelings, develop confidence and feel understood. Rather than focusing solely on correcting difficult behaviour, the approach encourages parents to look beneath the behaviour and consider what their child might be communicating. Parents develop new ways of listening, responding, setting boundaries and connecting with their children. What makes this approach particularly powerful is that the parent becomes an active part of the therapeutic process which in itself becomes de-mystified.

When Parents Change, Children can Change too

When I began introducing CPRT into my work with families, I was struck by how quickly meaningful changes could begin to happen. Parents who initially felt unsure about how to respond to their child’s emotional or behavioural difficulties began to feel more confident and capable, developing a better understanding of their child’s emotions and how to support their emotional regulation. As their understanding developed, they started responding differently to challenging situations. And as the parent-child relationship changed, the child’s responses often began to change too.

What I find particularly rewarding is that these skills don’t simply stay within a weekly therapy session. They become part of everyday family life. Children begin to experience being seen, understood and accepted in a different way, while parents develop greater confidence in supporting their emotional needs.

The changes can extend beyond the home, helping children develop confidence and build healthier relationships with others.

A Parent’s Experience of Working with Adriana

For many parents, the thought of learning therapeutic parenting skills can initially feel daunting, particularly when they are already struggling with their child’s behaviour or emotions.

One parent who worked with Adriana through filial therapy described feeling nervous about having her parenting observed, but found the experience very different from what she had anticipated.

“Her approach is non-judgemental and deeply curious. Her observations were always tender and I never felt judged as she offered targeted interventions, prompts or role-plays.

Adriana led me back to a playful intimacy with my daughter. For all that we learned, it was so much more than I could have hoped for.” Parent Testimonial.

This experience reflects something I feel strongly about: therapeutic parenting isn’t about judging parents or telling them everything they’re doing wrong. It’s about helping them recognise the strengths they already have, understand their child’s emotional world and develop practical skills that can make family life feel more connected and manageable.

Helping Families Create Lasting Change

One of the things I love most about this work is that the transformation happens not only in the child, but also in the parent and, most importantly, in the relationship between them. The results can sometimes be remarkably rapid, but the real value lies in helping families develop skills and understanding that can continue long after our work together has ended.

For me, this is one of the most powerful aspects of therapeutic work: helping families discover that they already have many of the resources they need for meaningful change, and giving parents the confidence and skills to use them.

Online Therapy for Teenagers with Adriana

Alongside her therapeutic parenting work, Adriana also offers online psychotherapy for young people aged 13–18.

With over 15 years’ experience supporting adolescents, an MA in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy and registration with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), Adriana provides a supportive space for teenagers to explore the challenges they may be experiencing.

Adolescence can bring difficulties around friendships, family relationships, identity, academic pressures and emotional wellbeing. Through online therapy, Adriana helps young people better understand their feelings, build self-awareness and confidence, and develop ways to manage anxiety, low mood, anger and overwhelm.

Parents who are concerned about their teenager’s emotional wellbeing are welcome to arrange an initial FREE Discovery Consultation to discuss their needs and explore whether ongoing therapy could help.

Find out more about online therapy for teenagers or book a consultation →