Parenting Counseling in Grand Rapids
Counseling For Parents
Being a parent is one of the hardest yet most rewarding jobs you can have in your lifetime. Being a parent is hard because there is no manual that you can read that can prepare you for everything to come with parenting. There is never a simple answer to many of the questions that parents have. While parents are responsible for providing their children with food, a safe place to live, and clothes. They also have to make sure that they teach their children how to interact socially with others, general values, and many other tasks. The role of parenting begins the day your child is born and never truly ends. Being a parent can be happy and rewarding, but it can also be extremely overwhelming and stressful. Attending parenting counseling or co-parenting counseling does not mean that you are a bad parent, it means that you want to better yourself as a parent so that you can give your child your absolute best life possible.
Reasons for Parenting Counseling in Grand Rapids
- Recently have become a single parent
- Significant stress resulting from a parenting issue
- Children are exhibiting behavior problems
- There is a lot of conflict going on at home or within the family
- You feel you need parenting guidance or support
- You want a better relationship with your children
- Your child has experienced a traumatic event You have recently gone through a divorce
Types of Parenting or Co-Parenting Counseling
In co-parenting and parenting counseling there are a number of different approaches that may be taken. One of the main tasks seen in all types of parenting counseling in Grand Rapids is to define a specific problem behavior, discover what causes this behavior, and what consequences usually follow. After the initial discussion about behavior, parents are trained using both performance methods and verbal methods. Performance methods such as role modeling, playing, and prompting focus on improving the relationship between the child and parent. Verbal methods include written materials and didactic instruction that parents are given to complete. In parenting or co-parenting counseling, the elements that the parents hold are considered just as important as the elements that the children hold. The goal is to improve parental feelings and place more emphasis on acceptance and commitment in the child-parent relationship rather than on control. Two types of common parenting and co-parenting counseling are listed below:
- Parent Therapies: Parenting Counseling of this nature focuses more on the parents. The general goals of this Parenting Counseling are to help the parents improve not only their reactions but also their perceived support, self-esteem , and their general well-being as parents.
- Parent Skills Training: In this type of Parenting and Co-Parenting Counseling, parents are taught different skills and techniques to help improve the individual’s parenting or co-parenting. Our professionals at Sollars & Associates in Grand Rapids, teach different skills to help parents respond to their children differently both in terms of the thoughts they have and the actions they take. By changing the way parents respond to behaviors, the children’s behavior also takes a positive change.
At Sollars and Associates in Grand Rapids we offer parents the support, guidance, and skills needed to become the parents they want to be, have a strong healthy relationship with their children and having the family they want. As children grow up and go through many different stages, parenting also has many different stages to go along. Part of having children is watching them change and grow from babies to adolescents and then to young adults. Another part is watching your relationship with your children evolve as they get older.
Our Parenting and Co-Parenting counselors in Grand Rapids help parents experience those changes in a healthy and positive way so that you can have a strong bond with your children. If you are looking for parenting support, give us a call today!
