Parenting and Communication in the Family

There are two things to be mindful of, and both are very difficult for parents.

First, when you parent, your own schemas are likely to be triggered. It is also possible that you will repeat some of the patterns you grew up with. You are a wise parent when you come to therapy, understand how those schemas affect you in your life, and work hard not to pass them on to your children.

Second, you will discover that it is a challenge to continue a loving and enthusiastic dialogue with your spouse after marriage, and to engage in Connect-Talk® with your children. Our entire culture communicates in conclusions and often in insufficient ways, many of which are negative. These negative communications take a major toll on family interactions.

Over time, they can cause children to turn away from their parents, often without revealing that they do not feel special or loved. It is tragic when children and spouses are both looking for love and cannot find it. This is often not because love is absent, but because the message sent is not the message received.

What I will help you do is reverse that—so that the love in your heart is more effectively received, and you develop the awareness needed to communicate in positive and gentle ways.

Part of this involves learning how to step out of rigid roles and relate to one another in more personal, human ways when appropriate, while also maintaining the proper role of the parent.

This is not easy to achieve. You are a wise parent to seek help with it.

If you would like help applying these principles in your own family, please contact me to learn more.