Why should you consider Partnering your child?
And no, it's not being friends with them!
I'm often asked 'Shouldn't I parent HARDER when my child's mental health declines and things are really challenging for my family?"
In short, no. When your child has a mental health issue, it changes everything - how we live, how we love and how we see the past, present and future. From the dynamics of communication and possibility to expectations and beliefs to our own ability to think straight, we can become consumed by trying to help our child to wellness.
In our haste to help and with a focus on fixing - because that's what us parents do, isn't it? - we can find our homes become a battlefield and our heads are quickly filled with all the what ifs, conflicting information and overpowering feelings like guilt, shame and fear. Our behaviours, while done to try and help, can often lead to a greater sense of disconnection and we can wonder if we'll ever recognise our child - or our family -again.
Partnering is a compassionate, proven approach for parents of children with poor mental health that helps reframe the challenges and offers pragmatic and practical tools to help us understand how to reconnect, communicate and build trust in a deeply challenging time.
The course helps deal with the grief, shame and distress we experience having a child with depression, anxiety or other mental health condition while helping them to a place where they feel emotionally safe, seen and heard by us.
But this is most certainly not about perfect parenting! That doesn't exist. This is about using the challenge you face as an opportunity to reflect, to set down some old behaviours and beliefs, and to move forward with greater clarity, connection and hope, and to transform your relationship with yourself, your child and your family.
And while parenting harder isn't helpful, Partnering is not about letting your child 'get on with it' or not having boundaries. Partnering is about adding to your existing parenting to meet the unique challenges that your child's poor mental health brings, building connection and change at a time when you feel there is no fix and often, there is no hope.
And Partnering isn't about changing your child; it's not a therapy or quick fix. It's a powerful, compassionate approach to understanding more about what your whole family is going through as well as the challenges and opportunities this adversity brings. It gives you the understanding, the tools, and the support to begin to calm, connect and converse with your child.
This course is on demand and you get immediate access to all the audio and video trainings online or via the Thinkific app on your phone or tablet. You can complete them in your own time - and you get 12 months' access from when you sign up.
In short, no. When your child has a mental health issue, it changes everything - how we live, how we love and how we see the past, present and future. From the dynamics of communication and possibility to expectations and beliefs to our own ability to think straight, we can become consumed by trying to help our child to wellness.
In our haste to help and with a focus on fixing - because that's what us parents do, isn't it? - we can find our homes become a battlefield and our heads are quickly filled with all the what ifs, conflicting information and overpowering feelings like guilt, shame and fear. Our behaviours, while done to try and help, can often lead to a greater sense of disconnection and we can wonder if we'll ever recognise our child - or our family -again.
Partnering is a compassionate, proven approach for parents of children with poor mental health that helps reframe the challenges and offers pragmatic and practical tools to help us understand how to reconnect, communicate and build trust in a deeply challenging time.
The course helps deal with the grief, shame and distress we experience having a child with depression, anxiety or other mental health condition while helping them to a place where they feel emotionally safe, seen and heard by us.
But this is most certainly not about perfect parenting! That doesn't exist. This is about using the challenge you face as an opportunity to reflect, to set down some old behaviours and beliefs, and to move forward with greater clarity, connection and hope, and to transform your relationship with yourself, your child and your family.
And while parenting harder isn't helpful, Partnering is not about letting your child 'get on with it' or not having boundaries. Partnering is about adding to your existing parenting to meet the unique challenges that your child's poor mental health brings, building connection and change at a time when you feel there is no fix and often, there is no hope.
And Partnering isn't about changing your child; it's not a therapy or quick fix. It's a powerful, compassionate approach to understanding more about what your whole family is going through as well as the challenges and opportunities this adversity brings. It gives you the understanding, the tools, and the support to begin to calm, connect and converse with your child.
This course is on demand and you get immediate access to all the audio and video trainings online or via the Thinkific app on your phone or tablet. You can complete them in your own time - and you get 12 months' access from when you sign up.