Parenting is challenging and takes a lot of time, attention and patience.
Parenting is the most important job anyone can do. However, there is little to no training to prepare you for the job. People don’t usually have the option of even one class in high school that addresses parenting. You might have the opportunity to take one college class on child development. Most of the knowledge parents have about parenting is their own experience being parented and what they picked up when visiting friends when they were young.
Parenting is a huge responsibility and can be scary. You are in charge of raising a child through many stages to be a well rounded, stable, productive member of society. Even when things are running smoothly, you may experience times that the parenting process can be trying. Parenting is always time consuming.
If you have a child with difficult behavior problems or special needs, the road can get pretty bumpy with extra challenges to overcome. Traversing difficult parenting issues with little or no support can lead you down the path of overwhelm.
Parents come to therapy for many different reasons. Some of the more common reasons are:
- Raising well behaved children who aren’t spoiled
- Supporting your child in developing a healthy sense of self
- Communication between parents
- Building a healthy parent-child relationship
- Problem solving
- Parenting positively as a team
- Raising resilient and self-sufficient children
- Support children who are being bullied or are acting out as bullies
- Working out co-parenting issues
- Addressing issues with alcohol and drugs
- Presenting sex and sexuality age appropriately
- Homework issues
- Choosing a school or program that’s a good fit
- Balancing parent styles
- Supporting a child with anxiety, depression, self-harming behaviors or suicidal thoughts
- Defiant behaviors
- Supporting neurodiverse children
- Autism
- ADHD
- Pathological Demand Avoidance or Pervasive Drive for Autonomy (PDA)
- Differentiating children's needs
- Creating a supportive environment
- Blended families
- Family planning
- Parenting children with special needs/chronic illness
- Supporting your child through life transitions
- Parenting adult children
- Being supportive despite your child's life choices
- Understanding gender and identity
I offer parenting, co-parenting and partner counseling for individuals and couples. I have the training and experience to provide both emotional support and specific guidance based on the types of issues you are having with your parent-child dynamic. You can do many things to help make your parenting more effective, less strenuous and lead to a more harmonious household.
All families experience transitional periods of growth and development. Sometimes they present new difficulties that can cause a struggle. Problems such as sibling conflict, anxiety, shyness, acting out or managing technology can come up over and over as your children move out of one developmental stage and into a new one.
Parenting can be confusing and sometimes frustrating. As your child moves into a new developmental phase, you may feel like you need to learn how to raise a totally different child.
Parents often feel overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of parenting books and courses all offering different views and techniques. Together, we can find the types of parenting information that fit with your personality and comfort zone and match your child’s disposition. The underlying principals must make sense to you and must also be based on child development research.
You will find implementing an approach that fits your personal style and includes common sense much easier than other approaches. We will use everyday wording to help you develop a communication style that is developmentally appropriate, straightforward and simple to use. We will also focus on you as the parent and how you can be a good role model while you maintain your composure and stay grounded.
We will go through exactly what you need as a parent and look carefully at what has and hasn’t worked for you so far. Our goal is for everyone in the household to feel heard, understood, cared for and to create an environment where everyone can be their best selves. I intend that each session meets your immediate needs in a comfortable, non-judgmental and supportive way. I will never expect you to try anything that doesn’t feel like a good fit for you and your family. We will tailor solutions to your situation and your family members.
Some parents like to schedule sessions when they see a transitional period coming up or a particular behavior beginning. They find that seeking help and making a plan beforehand reduces the stress of parenting. When you know what you are going to do and say ahead of time, you can avoid some conflicts and stay calmer in difficult situations. Some things that are commonly addressed in advance are:
- Toilet Training
- Toddler issues
- Adoption
- Birth of a sibling
- Safety issues
- Discipline
- Anger and Aggression
- Adolescent issues
- Rebellion
- Managing Technology
- School/Educational issues
- Independence entering the teen phase
- Co-parenting for separation or divorce
- Launching to college and the empty nest
- Failure to launch/Adult children returning home
- Building healthy parent-adult child relationships
- Parenting adult children
We can work on these issues at any time with problem solving and making new plans that fit with new developmental stages and changing family dynamics. We will work together to grow your ability to build the family environment you want despite conflicts and differences of opinion. We will work on communication so you can speak rationally and respectfully, even in difficult moments.
I know you want the very best for your child. It’s a natural thing to want. You want to create a relationship that will last, so you can support your child through challenges and life transitions. You want your children to grow up with the skills to build healthy relationships and other abilities that will be valuable throughout life as they eventually venture into the world. There is nothing like a wonderful adult relationship with your adult child. It is possible. You can have a lasting relationship with your child that continues on as they go through all the developmental stages and into adulthood.