Patrícia Medeiros

Introduction. Parent training programs developed in the late '60s of the last century are those recognized as an important component in work with children and adolescents in a psychiatric or social dysfunction context. The cases in which its application would be most necessary often have poor results, sometimes causing an insurmountable challenge for professionals. Therefore, new methodologies are needed, which will allow for greater efficiency.

Methods. We started by reviewing the unsuccessful processes in classical methodologies parent training programs at our institute, considered “unsuccessful” when after nine months of the program, parents' attitudes towards their children remained unchanged, continuing to show difficulty in being aware of the guiding role that parents play in their child's psychological ontogenesis. We designed an experimental methodology guided by Galperin's Theory of the Development of Human Mental Activity, which we tested in a series of 12 cases drawn randomly from those previously identified.

Results. The program's main objective was achieved in 11 of 12 cases in a reduced number of sessions. There was an average session count of 5.25, SD of 2.42, a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 8 sessions.

Discussion and some concluding remarks. The excellent results observed in this first study suggest that the used methodology can promote the quality of parental guidance carried out in psychiatric clinic processes and social cases. Thus, Galperin's Theory of the Development of Human Mental Activity can show in parent training as important results as those that over the years have already been shown in pedagogy.