My Therapeutic Approach
“I know how important it is for you to keep your relationship with their child strong and create an atmosphere of cooperation and respect in your home. When this is achieved, stress in your family is reduced immeasurably.
My goal is threefold: first, to help you understand your child’s behaviour. This is an essential step in creating an appropriate plan of action for your family. To do this, we’ll examine the goals of your child’s behaviour and what payoffs they are seeking. We’ll also look at your child’s place in the family, and how they are attempting to find their sense of belonging. Secondly, we’ll explore new and better ways of responding to your child’s behaviour -- strategies that are respectful of both you and your child and that set the stage for better cooperation. Your actions, what you say, the different options you have, are so essential in bringing about improvements. My third goal is to develop a long range plan to keep these positive changes in place. That means looking at the big picture, including focusing on the strengths and contributions of every member of the family. We’ll develop a plan for encouragement that will help your child continue their cooperative effort.
My philosophy is based on the teachings of Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs. These two distinguished psychiatrists laid the groundwork for humanistic, democratic parenting, and left behind a common-sense blueprint for parents to follow. Many noted parenting experts have gleaned their core ideas from their work.
Family and Parenting challenges I can help with
Children present new challenges at every step of their development. I can assist with a wide range of parenting/family issues across all these stages. The following are some of the most common concerns I can help you with:
- Child behaviour (from infancy through teen years)
- Communication problems (disrespect, tuning out, talking back)
- Sibling relationships
- Anger/tantrums/ rebellion
- Teen issues: drugs, sexuality, alcohol, rebellion, school, withdrawal from the family, peers
- Aggression, mean behaviour
- School/academic difficulties/low grades & motivation
- Anxiety/depression
- Social problems (bullying, shyness, etc)
- Difficulties with daily routines & rules (eating, sleeping, bathing, etc.)
- Responsibilities/chores
- Technology & social media
- Divorce/co-parenting/step-parenting/blended families
- Young child: toilet teaching, routines, sleep
- Parenting styles/parenting with partner
When your child is old enough to take part in discussions we may include them in the counselling process but there are times where I work solely with parents. I believe a parent’s response to their child’s behaviour is a key factor in setting the stage for growth and change.
As well, I offer counselling for individuals dealing with relationship issues, anxiety/depression, stress and a variety of other concerns.
