Children: A Dream. A Gift. A Challenge.
As parents, we have three things in common: a gift, a dream, and a challenge. The gift is our children. The dream is to send our children into the world as happy adults with confident and competent life skills. The challenge is to raise our children in a manner that is fulfilling for us and healthy and respectful to our children. As a family counselor and coach, I collaborate with parents who are in many different stages of family life (married, divorced, single), helping them changes that come from their values and spirituality.
Parents Do Know their Children
Parents come to me with varying needs and questions, often just in need of good coaching. I come from the belief that parents generally know what is good for their child; however, when they are stressed or fearful, they may lack clarity to understand their child’s situation. They need ideas and support to implement effective parenting strategies. Sometimes the support takes the form of sharing my experience helping a child work through challenges in school, friendships, lack of motivation, inability to focus on homework or depression that is initiating suicide ideation. It takes a competent professional counselor to examine the child’s present situation and understand the parents’ perspective. Whatever the challenge, parents find their own strength when they receive validation for their efforts and guidance as they find new solutions. That’s my role as a coach and counselor.
“Lynn as a parenting coach provided tangible and practical ways to better connect with my children, from helping me establish boundaries to creating a weekly chore list. She provided actionable suggestions that immediately made a difference in helping me communicate and demonstrate love to my children.”
It's Working!
Parents smiling as they describe how their children are sleeping peacefully or how their adolescent son looks forward to describing his day at school are signs that parents are experiencing success in interactions with their children. "It's working!" is music to my ears. At the end of coaching or counseling sessions, these words bring me joy.
