For many of us, it’s a dream to build a family of our own.
And while every single parent on the planet will tell you that it’s the hardest job (if you’re trying to do it well) it can sometimes feel impossibly hard because we’re often trying to heal ourselves while we raise our children.
We may deal with excessive worries and thoughts like:
“Am I passing down intergenerational trauma to them?”
“How can I help build their resiliency and capacities for stress when mine feel so limited?”
“Am I running out of time to have a close, connected relationship with them? Is that even possible if I never saw it modeled?”
And, in addition to these thoughts, you may feel intensely triggered by your children.
Your kid ignoring you triggers rage in your body that scares you.
Your child’s out-of-control behaviors make you feel helpless and concerned.
You both want to give them what you never had but also feel intense jealousy towards them sometimes.
You watch yourself wanting to shut down and walk away from them when they have big feelings and you realize that your own, deeply rooted attachment patterns are in conflict with your desire to help them feel securely attached.
And, to top it all off, you’re doing it without any models for functional, healthy parenting and you have a child who’s unwilling to participate in family counseling, child therapy, or their own adolescent therapy.
Who wouldn’t feel overwhelmed in these circumstances?
But you don’t need your child to attend their own therapy or family counseling with you in order to make progress and improvements in your relationship.
Some of the issues we can help you with through parent counseling
- Living with a child, adolescent or young adult whose behaviors are “out of control”, embarrassing, or possibly frightening
- Feeling disrespected and ignored in your own home
- A young person who thinks they “know it all” and don’t need to listen to you or other adults
- Exhaustion after having “tried everything” but with no change
- Helplessness and concern for your child’s future wellbeing
- Arguments over simple matters that escalate in shouting
- Anger and sadness over the loss of connection with your child
- Negative feedback from your child no matter what you do
- Your child refusing to attend family or their own therapy
- Difficulty in coparenting following a divorce or breakup
- Having your own attachment wounds be activated by your child
What you can expect with parent counseling
Are You Ready to Begin?- Support and practical techniques to reduce challenging behaviors from a child, adolescent, or young adult
- Increased understanding of how kids and young people think to better strategize your responses
- A plan to rebuild your relationship with your child and reduce the frequency and intensity of arguments
- A toolbox of evidence-based strategies and interventions to help de-escalate your child’s concerning behaviors and allow you both to feel closer and more connected
What if I’m Not Ready?
If you don’t feel quite ready to book a complimentary consult call yet, that’s completely fine.
We don’t want you to feel pressured and we know that the choice to seek out therapy can feel difficult.
Part of you wants to do it, and another part of you is, perhaps, scared to begin because of the feelings you might have to finally feel.
Or a part of you questions whether or not you can even be helped at all.
Whatever the reason, no matter how ready or not ready you feel to begin therapy, we want you to have the information you need to make an informed choice.
So, to that end, please explore the additional information below to learn more about us and how we can help you.
We’ll be here whenever you’re ready to reach out for support.
