Grand Rapids – Parenting Counseling

Counseling For Parents

Being a parent is one of the hardest yet most rewarding jobs a person can have in their lifetime. Being a parent is hard because there is not a manual that you can read that can prepare you for everything come. There is never a simple yes or no answer to many of the questions that parents have. While parents are responsible for providing their children with food, clothes, and a safe place to live. They also have to make sure that they teach their children values, how to interact socially with others, and many other tasks. Parenting begins the day your child is born and never truly ends. Being a parent can be joyful but it can also be extremely stressful and overwhelming. Attending 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.

Reasons for Parenting Counseling

• Significant stress resulting from a parenting issue
• Recently have become a single parent
• Children are exhibiting behavior problems
• You want a better relationship with your children
• There is a lot of conflict going on at home or within the family
• You have recently gone through a divorce
• Your child has experienced a traumatic event
• You feel you need parenting guidance or support

Types of Parenting Counseling

In 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 is to define a specific problem behavior, discover what causes this behavior, and what consequences usually follow. After this parents are trained using both verbal methods and performance methods. Verbal methods include didactic instruction and written materials that parents are given to complete. Performance methods such as role playing, modeling, and prompting focus on improving the relationship between the parent and child. In 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 commitment and acceptance in the parent-child relationship rather than on control. Two types of common Parenting Counseling are listed below:

·         Parent Skills Training: In this type of Parenting Counseling, parents are taught different skills and techniques to help improve the individual’s parenting. Professionals 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, the children’s behavior also takes a positive change.

·         Parent Therapies: Parenting Counseling of this nature focuses more on the parents in their own right. The general goals of this Parenting Counseling are to help the parents improve not only their reactions but also their self-esteem, perceived support, and their general well-being as parents.

As Sollars and Associates we offer parents the guidance, support, and skills needed to become the parents they want to be, have the family they want, and have a strong healthy relationship with their children. As children grow up and go through many different stages, parenting also has many different stages. Part of having children is watching them change and grow from babies to adolescents and to young adults. Another part is watching your relationship with your children change and develop as they get older.

Therapists, Counselors, Psychotherapists, and Psychologists at our Grand Rapids location help parents experience those changes in a healthy and positive way, so that you can have a strong bond with your children.