Are your kiddos driving you crazy? Welcome to parenting!!!! I don't believe in perfect parents or perfect children. Instead, I believe that it is important for each parent to learn to become an expert on their OWN child. I call this philosophy "Translation Parenting." The basic premise of Translation Parenting is the idea of parents coming translators. We translate the world to our children and our children to the world in the most developmentally appropriate approach possible. This means that I act as intermediary between my child and his world until he is sufficiently equipped to engage on his own. My role as parent is to teach necessary skills, to set boundaries for safety and emotional health, and to encourage him to try to new things. The younger (either chronologically or developmentally) my child is, the more involved I will be. However, as my child grows up, it's important that I learn to step back and let my child have the experience of making attempts at life on his own. This can be one of the hardest parents of parenting... learning to let go.
In our sessions together we will take a lot at what you are currently doing that is working in your parenting style. We will look at what you feel like is no longer working. We will begin to learn your child's strengths and weaknesses. We will explore personality styles of both you and your child to determine "rightness of fit." Together we will develop a parenting plan to help you focus your attention on specific areas at a time. Often we overwhelm ourselves by trying to change too much all at once. We will develop a plan that fits your family and the time you are able to spend on making changes.
The goal of parent coaching is to increase the quality of the relationship between you and your child. One of my goals is to make sure that your child has a healthy attachment to you. We want our children to feel safe in our relationship with them. I want you to feel like you are equipped to interact successfully with your children. In our time together we will learn about developmentally appropriate expectations for each of your children. We will take a look at what is happening within them at whatever particular developmental stage your child is in. I've noticed that many times once parents can get a look behind the curtain of their child's mind, that dramatically lowers the anxiety in the family. One of my often repeated phrases is..."It's not personal! It's parenting!".