When your child is experiencing challenges, your first thought may be to put them into traditional counselling, where a therapist works directly with your child.
This can work, but the gains can be limited and short lived.
The therapist would spend perhaps an hour a week with your child.
By contrast, as a parent you likely spend dozens of hours with your child each week.
That’s why Parent-Centred Counselling can be so effective.
With this approach, the counsellor works directly with the parent, providing first the support so the parent can process and understand the challenges their child is facing, and then working together to equip the parent with the strategies and tools to bring about transformational change for your child, yourself and the family.
Ron and Sheena’s Story (not their real names)
When Sheena came to me, her daughter Anna was experiencing significant struggles that were impacting not only herself but also the whole family - including Ron and Sheena’s marriage.
Anna was self-harming and doing drugs. She wasn’t going to school and she was spending most of her time in her room.
Ron and Sheena were worried. But they were angry with Anna too.
They were frustrated and felt Anna was being disrespectful by not listening to them and not following family rules.
Often, they felt her behaviour was attention seeking and manipulative.
As parents, Ron and Sheena felt out of control and hopeless. They were arguing all the time.
They felt scared, too, for Anna’s well being.
And they knew they needed to do something.
Helping Ron and Sheena
Working together with Sheena, we started by looking at the needs behind Anna’s behaviour.
Anna had struggled for a long time in school, and in high school the work had become harder. She’d also lost a lot of her friends and felt isolated and alone. Anna had also been bullied for a long time.
By exploring Anna’s situation, Ron and Sheena experienced a shift and felt a deeper empathy and compassion for her situation.
From there, we turned our focus to solutions.
Through Parent-Centred Counselling, Ron and Sheena were given the tools and strategies they needed to set some important limits, such as screen time, and create opportunities for the family to enjoy together without expectations.
Anna was also provided extra support with her schooling and with establishing better eating and sleeping habits.
For perhaps the first time in a long time, she felt supported and understood in the way she needed to be.
As for Ron and Sheena, understanding Anna’s needs was a life-altering breakthrough for the whole family.
Through Parent-Centred Counselling, they were also equipped with new skills to navigate the ups and downs that come to every family.
These new skills ensured they were ready and able to ride the waves.
Contact me to learn more about Parent-Centred Counselling, or to book an appointment.