Parenting and Family Life

Review, reset or repair your important relationships

Maybe you’ve found that Covid 19 social restrictions and lockdown have brought you closer together as a family but also intensified the differences and conflict between you, or increased your sense of isolation. So many plans and activities have been put on hold, and changes like home schooling have put more pressure on parents and children to reach the usual milestones of learning and development - without all the usual supports! Perhaps you’ve been trying to find new ways of connecting with your community or doing activities that allow you and your loved ones space as well as positive experiences of togetherness, but the new ways just aren’t cutting it. A lot of parents tell me they’re struggling with their children’s worsening behaviour or mental health, or finding that their family relationships are becoming more strained or volatile lately.

​

You may have read the parenting books, done the courses and really worked on how you respond to your children, but you’re finding yourself and others have a much shorter fuse. Those 'old ways' of relating and disciplining your child or teenager, often connected to things you experienced in your own childhood, may have taken over again. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, frustrated or at a loss about how to get your parenting and family relationships back on track, Real Life Counselling can help.

​

I offer specialist counselling and coaching for parents and carers in all kinds of family set-ups - co-habiting and separated families, blended families and rainbow families.

​

It can help to take some space to reflect on how significant changes and stressful events have affected you and your family members, make sense of your child or teen’s behaviour and understand your own feelings and reactions. You may become more aware of messages and beliefs about yourself and others that you absorbed from your family of origin, other relationships or experiences at school, which affect your thinking, reactions and decision-making as a parent or partner. We will look at your choices as a parent and what may be going on for your child in terms of their underlying needs and personality development. I can help you tweak your approach and practice more effective ways to relate and solve problems as a family. We will explore patterns of interaction in your family and use information and strategies to help improve communication, establish healthy boundaries and break cycles of conflict and blame.

When working with parents, I draw on my knowledge and training in child and adolescent development, systemic family therapy, and attachment-based parenting programs such as Tuning in to Kids, Tuning in to Teens, and Circle of Security Parenting.  

​

Check out my Resources page for useful links to some of books, websites and parenting courses that I recommend for parents. 

​