diff --git a/src/TestStack.White/TestStack.White.csproj b/src/TestStack.White/TestStack.White.csproj
index 05976354..d001a9a5 100644
--- a/src/TestStack.White/TestStack.White.csproj
+++ b/src/TestStack.White/TestStack.White.csproj
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@
     <Compile Include="UIA\AutomationPatterns.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UIA\WindowsPointX.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UIA\RectX.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="UIItems\UIItemExtensions.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UIItems\Custom\CustomUIItemType.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UIItems\Finders\AutomationElementProperty.cs" />
     <Compile Include="UIItems\Finders\ControlTypeProperty.cs" />
diff --git a/src/TestStack.White/UIItems/UIItemExtensions.cs b/src/TestStack.White/UIItems/UIItemExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4b4a5f60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/TestStack.White/UIItems/UIItemExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+using System.Windows.Automation;
+using TestStack.White.Factory;
+
+namespace TestStack.White.UIItems
+{
+    public static class UIItemExtensions
+    {
+        // DictionaryMappedItemFactory does not have any state and could be shared
+        private static readonly UIItemFactory ItemFactory = new DictionaryMappedItemFactory();
+
+        public static T GetParent<T>(this IUIItem thisItem) where T : IUIItem
+        {
+            var parent = TreeWalker.ControlViewWalker.GetParent(thisItem.AutomationElement);
+            var uiItem = ItemFactory.Create(parent, thisItem.ActionListener);
+            return (T) UIItemProxyFactory.Create(uiItem, uiItem.ActionListener);
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file