Parenting Issues

Parenting a child is one of life's toughest jobs. As a parent you are responsible for the safety and welfare of your children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the first 18 years of their lives. It is an awesome responsibility and how you parent greatly influences who they will grow up to be and how successful and happy they will be in their lives.

Where Did You Receive Training on Being a Parent

In our society any activity other than parenting that carries a certain level of responsibility requires specialized training and in some cases licensure. To drive a car we need to go to drivers-ed and pass a test to get a license. To become a counselor I received 3 years of graduate level training followed by supervised clinical work and I continue to train on a regular basis. Medical Doctors need excessive training and licensure. Electricians need specialized training and licensure. And on and on. To become a parent all you need to do is have sex. There are no required courses in High School or College on parenting or even child development.

So where did you learn how to parent? Most of what people know they learned from their parents through how they were parented. Some have read books and researched parenting on their own. Others get advice from other parents who also have no formal training. In the end, most stumble through parenting, doing their best and learning as they go along.

Common Parenting Challenges

While parenting is different with each person and often different with each child there are common challenges that many parents encounter. Some of these are:

Child acts out in undesirable ways
Child has problems in school or with friends
Not always knowing how to talk about difficult topics in age appropriate ways
Trouble keeping your temper with your children
Doing to your children what your parents did to you and you swore you never would
Feeling resentful because so much is given up for the children
Feeling overwhelmed and insufficient as a parent

My Approach to Parenting Issues

I naturalize the struggles of being a parent and help you become better parent by providing you with various parenting techniques focused around developing your child's sense of self and overall self-esteem. One part of this is helping you find a balance in meeting your needs while also meeting the needs of your children. In concert with developing parenting skills I support you in working through any emotional triggers that come up for you when parenting your children that affect how you are with them.