Parental Guidance (PG)

For typically developing and special needs children of all ages

The PG program is for the parent(s) or caregiver(s) who is looking for new tools and strategies to enhance their general parenting skills, and/or need guidance in developing a plan to address a particular issue they are having with their child/children.

The decision to add this kind of program to my life-guiding practice came out of the demand I saw from my clients who were parents or caregivers seeking to be better, more connected, consistent parents, but was initially born out of my previous incarnations as a child care worker, a typically developing and special education teacher, recreational, play, and behavioral therapist. Working in those capacities was where I discovered that in order to help the child you first must help the parent(s) or caregiver(s) recognize what it is that the child/children needs in order to be happy, healthy and well-adjusted. Obviously, just like with adults, that has to be addressed differently in each individual case. I don’t believe in cookie cutter solutions that are one size fits all. For instance, I feel it’s important to have a different strategy with a child whose having issues with bed wetting at four than you would at ten, as should your plan and expectations be different with an autistic child who is having a hard time socializing with peers than a typically developing one.

Sometimes, clients come to me unaware that their emotional eating, compulsive exercising or shopping is due to a difficulty their having with their child/children, and it takes some excavating of their family situation to see that the problem they’ve come to me to work on is actually the coping mechanism they’ve developed to deal with what is really bothering them. You can help a person discover and develop healthier coping mechanism, but if you don’t treat what’s causing them to look for a way to cope in the first place then their family situation will never improve. Even clients who come to me very aware of their need to address a particular issue with their child/children usually have to sort out first what they or the parental unit has done prior to seeking assistance to contribute to their own difficulties, and those they are having with their child/children.

The PG program is set-up to empower the parent(s) to be not just better parents for the sake of their children, but for the sake of themselves. Because I believe if you don’t have a clear idea of why you do what you do, and how to create an action plan for yourself you can get excited about, how can you do that for your child/children. So whether you want to assuage some pre-parental anxiety, or have an issue with an adult child that has been plaguing you for years, the PG program can guide you toward a better relationship with yourself and your child, using real world tools and strategies that will be developed with you and your child’s/children’s unique make-up, strengths and challenges in mind.

Click to see price list >>