Relationships with family members can be particularly complex. With family, we often fall into old roles that may no longer serve us. You may be grieving the loss of a relationship you wished you had with a family member, or struggling with conflict and hurt feelings that keep getting re-triggered in each encounter. You may be facing challenges with parenting or trying to figure out the best ways to support your children. Relationship counselling can help you sort through the complexities of family dynamics, understand old roles and how you get pulled into them while working towards setting healthy boundaries in order to create more harmonious family dynamics.
Parenting is one of the most challenging and rewarching journeys. It can cause issues withing co-parent relationships whether partnered or not. Each child and each parent is a unique individual and how they come together is important to understand. Parenting can also raise a lot of our unhealed wounds from childhood and can give us a prime opportunity to heal bringing healing not only to the parent but to generations to come. We will explore these dynamics together in order to facilitate a more positive parenting experience and relationships with your child(ren).
While our minds and bodies function to protect us, our survival strategies may not always produce long-term outcomes which suit how one prefers their life to look. Chronic experiences of the four f's (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) can knock one off balance to their valued, preferred way of living. In therapy, I will integrate my personal and professional training in DBT, to collaborate and form a treatment plan with you that aligns with your values and preferred parenting story.
Working together through the ups and downs of parenting at all developmental stages. Whether through the prenatal, postpartum, toddler or childhood and teen years, all parents need support at one stage or another. The difficult moments with our children mirror back to us the things that are unhealed within ourselves. Together we will work to uncover the root causes behind your experiences, thoughts and feelings, to provide you with concrete, practical tools you can use to support these challenging and transitional times.
Parenting can be one of the toughest and most rewarding experiences. There is so much that can get in the way of parenting in the ways that we hoped for. A busy schedule, finances, burn-out, and so many other factors are just a few obstacles that may get in the way. As a therapist, I am here to work with you to understand and develop the ways in which you wish to parent. I do not impose my own parenting ideas on you, but rather I seek to support you in figuring out who your most authentic and meaningful parent self is. This will allow us to support you in developing your own unique parenting tools and styles best suited for you and your family. Connect with me today for a free consult to see if we are a good fit.
As a parent of three, I can relate to very challenging parenting issues. It is never easy, and can be extremely painful when we see our children go through difficulties in their lives. I can help to process your emotions, to provide clarity, and to guide you to a more peaceful parenting experience.
Parenting therapy can provide a supportive space to develop approaches that work for your child(ren) and family. It can be a space for parents and caregivers to explore the expectations they hold for themselves and their children, and to further question whether these ideals limit or serve them. By developing insight into your child’s needs and your own capacities, you can learn to respond to challenges with parenting approaches grounded in authenticity and connection.
I approach parenting as a relational experience in which we are trying to help our children learn and grow into themselves. Sometimes this causes challenges within us as it can ignite difficult and old feelings. I believe it is important to understand these so that we can become more open and less defensive as we strive to nurture our kids. I am also fascinated by how the brain develops throughout the stages of life and my approach to this is informed by Daniel J. Siegel's Interpersonal Neurobiological approach.