"In my world, I believed to get help" : -A qualitative study on how parents experience councelors help and support.

Abstract Children with neuropsychiatric disorders often require special arrangements from the society. These measures could target the child itself, its parents, or other parts of the social network surrounding the child. Parents of children with neuropsychiatric disorders are often deeply engaged both in their child and in these measures. Three parents of children with neuropsychiatric disorders, and four counselors in different habilitation centers, were interviewed. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to describe the methods with which the counselors worked to support parents of children with neuropsychiatric disorders, and to understand how the parents experienced this support offered by the counselors. The qualitative interviews with counselors and parents followed a thematic interview guide. A structured interview form was used. The frame of questions was: what support and which help parents feel that counselors offered them? How do the parents experience the help? How do counselors describe their jobs and their work situation? How are counselors with their mission to make its work easier? What impact wills the parents? Factors that the parents experienced as very important were to get information about the availability of support and possible arrangements, information about their child's neuropsychiatric disorder after diagnose, better communication and better coordination. The study also showed that parents felt that the counselors were humble and nice. Others found in the study was that parents felt forgotten and requested that the counselors were more "active". It turned out that the parents wanted to be confirmed and get feedback. The study also shows that the counselors feel that parents may help, and that they felt controlled by habilitations plans. The conclusions in my study shows that the reason that parents feel that they cannot get help and support and those counselors believe that parents can get help and support, due counselors action space. That is to say that they are loyal to their "organization" and unable to meet parents ' needs to the extent that they want. Partly it is because a good communication is not satisfied with his parents from the beginning. Which is connected with the counselors does not see "critical" on its business. Keywords: Help, Neuropsychiatric Disabilities, Support, Nyckelord: Hjälp, Neuropsykiatriska Funktionsnedsättningar, Stöd,