As a child and adolescent psychologist who works predominantly with youth who have experienced trauma in my work with Sentinel Foundation, I often have to have difficult conversations with parents. My go to approach is to try for an in person meeting, and, if not available, a phone call. I want to be able to have a true back and forth conversations where the parents feel heard, understood, and supported. The first goal of meeting with parents is to get their perspective, to gain an awareness of what their daily life looks like parenting their child, their hopes and their struggles, etc. With this information, I can then house my observations of their child into their current narrative of their child and their family. This makes it more likely that the parents will not only believe what I am sharing but also be willing to adjust parenting strategies or engage in additional resources.