Therapeutic Supervised Visitation

The therapeutic supervised visitation (TSV) program is a dyadic Dependency and Family Court based program designed by Dr. Nikki Woller. The program focuses on providing therapeutic supervised visitation to parents in need of improving their relationship with their children. 

Therapeutic supervised visitation is not the same as family therapy. TSV is more immediate than family therapy. TSV provides a safe therapeutic place for the child and parent to begin to reestablish a relationship that was interrupted by an action that resulted in the child being placed into out of home care or where a child has been separated from a parent due to incarceration, estrangement, deployment, illness or alienation. 

Dr. Woller's TSV program works to improve the parent/child relationship in three targeted enhancement domains; parenting skills, bonding/attachment and protective capacity. TSV is conducted in a therapeutic office or via telemed. This decision depends on the family's specific situation.  

TSV is not the appropriate place to address long standing family problems. TSV stabilizes the parent/child relationship so that family therapy can eventually begin and be successful in addressing long term family issues. 

During TSV the family will be working on a predetermined treatment plan with a Master’s level mental health therapist. The treatment plan goals are completed concurrently. The treatment plan goals are reached through dyadic play therapy and therapeutic instruction. 

Parents with continued safety concerns resulting from the child maltreatment that brought the family to the attention of the Dependency Court. 

Parents with mental health, behavioral, or developmental concerns that make it difficult for the Dependency Case Manager to supervise visitation. 

Children who are refusing to see their parents despite the Dependency or Family Court issuing a Court order for visitation. 

Children with mental illness or behavioral concerns that the parents have difficulty managing.  

Parents who have been absent from a child’s life due to illness, incarceration or other life circumstances. 

Any case where the treating individual or family clinician feels that TSV is appropriate to help the family improve their relationship. 

Physical Abuse                          Sexual Abuse                        Sibling Sexual Abuse

Parental Mental Illness              Child Mental Illness               Substance Exposure

Neglect involving injury or hospitalization             Parent Reentry into a Child's Life

Unexplained Child Fractures and/or Death.          Child Refusal of Visitation 

Parent Developmental/Intellectual Disability.        Parental Alienation 

Munchausen By Proxy (Factitious Disorder of Parent) 

High Profile Cases involving Child Maltreatment (Abuse/Neglect)

Dr. Woller's TSV program has five constructs that families work through with predetermined goals. There are several objectives that correspond with the goals of this TSV program. 

Constructs and Goals of this TSV program 

Construct One: Recognition

Goal: Client will respond to their child emotionally neutral and age appropriately.

Goal: Client will demonstrate recognition of the feelings and emotions of their child.

Construct Two: Empathy and Action 

Goal:  Client will demonstrate recognition of the difference between typical child behavior and trauma triggered behavior.

Goal: Client will demonstrate insight regarding how their actions or inactions put their child at risk for harm. 

Goal: Client will develop and demonstrate insight into how to reduce future child maltreatment.  

Construct Three: Managing Behavior

Goal: Client will demonstrate an understanding of “start and stop” behaviors. 

Goal: Client will demonstrate how to verbally redirect their child’s negative behavior. 

Goal: Client will demonstrate behavior during TSV that is acceptable for their child to model.

Goal: Client will demonstrate how to separate from their child in an appropriate manner.

Construct Four: Moving Forward

Goal: Client will develop and demonstrate healthy and safe family boundaries. 

Goal: Client will develop and demonstrate insight into how their own behavior has impacted their child’s safety. 

Goal:  Client will verbally take responsibility for the situation that has brought their child into care. 

Goal: Client will develop and demonstrate an active plan to reduce the safety risks of their child reentering foster care. 

Construct Five: Taming Chaos

Construct Five is a Construct Reserved for Parents with Children who have a Chronic Mental Illness, Developmental Delay or Autism - This is an optional construct to help a parent develop advanced parenting skills when they have child/ren with special needs. 

Goal: Client will manage child’s pathology (symptomology) independently.

Goal: Client will identify the different types of mental health assessments that may be helpful to the child.

Goal: Client will demonstrate an understanding of the medication and/or non-medication treatment options to help reduce their child’s symptomology.

Goal: Client will build a potential treatment team using resources within their family and the community.

Goal: Client will verbally explain the accommodations that the school can offer and how to obtain those accommodations.

Goal: Client will demonstrate the ability to redirect the child’s symptomology using advanced parenting techniques.