What In Tune Parenting is:

This self-paced, video series was designed to educate and support caregivers of youth with misophonia. This condition is relatively newly described in the medical literature and as such, research into how to most effectively treat it is still emerging. Thus, the In Tune Parenting curriculum as a whole has not been researched but rather pieces together a number of evidence-based components. 

 

First, the program provides caregivers with a comprehensive understanding of misophonia. Next, it educates caregivers about the common dynamics that play out around misophonia in families that can cause significant distress to both youth and caregivers. Caregivers will learn how the youth’s relationship to their misophonic distress causes suffering and concrete skills to model and support their youth in changing this. Finally, this group incorporates and adapts many components of Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). This is for two reasons! First, many youth with misophonia have co-occurring anxiety disorders which SPACE is an evidence-based treatment of. Second, very similarly to youth anxiety, misophonia in youth can entangle caregivers in a challenging cycle of pushing youth to tolerate distress or helping them avoid it. While caregivers certainly don’t cause misophonia, they can play a big role in supporting youth to more effectively manage it.

Treatment focuses on helping caregivers to a) respond supportively to their child’s misophonic distress with a combination of validation and confidence, and b) reduce accommodating their child’s avoidance. This process helps caregivers get out of the common traps of “protecting” their child, “demanding” they manage their distress, or feeling lost and overwhelmed with how to help navigate. Similar to SPACE, this group exclusively focuses on changing parental behavior instead of youth behavior, which reduces escalation and empowers parents to take action to support their youth.
 

What In tune Parenting treats:

The In Tune Parenting program is designed to support treatment of misophonia in youth. Given that many parts of this program overlap with SPACE training, caregivers may find this also helps them more effectively respond to youth anxiety disorders, such as OCD, social anxiety, separation anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, selective mutism, generalized anxiety, and specific phobias. However, unlike our general SPACE programming, the In Tune Parenting program focuses specifically on misophonia. As a parent-based intervention, youth involvement is not required for any portion of treatment. This makes In Tune Parenting an ideal option for caregivers of youth who are unwilling or unable to engage in their own treatment. In Tune Parenting is also a great adjunct for caregivers when their youth is engaged in individual treatment, as the group uniquely attends to caregiver behavior. While the target of treatment is the youth’s misophonic distress, most parents find In Tune Parenting improves their own well-being and sense of competence in navigating their child’s anxiety. 

What In Tune Parenting Is: 

The In Tune Parenting program is a self-paced, 13-video series with corresponding workbook. The program is available for purchase to the general public and requires no involvement with the TAP Clinic. The program is available for purchase at http://tape-learning.vhx.tv 

 

 Families interested in individualized support implementing In Tune Parenting are able to meet one-on-one with an appropriate provider at TAP. Please note this does require becoming a patient of the TAP clinic. 

    
To learn more about the TAP Clinic's In Tune Parenting program, check out relevant blog 

posts: Q&A with a Misophonia Expert on the In Tune Parenting Program. 

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