Tacoma, WA

Counseling for Parents

A parent's job is never ending.

does this sound familiar? You…

  • Find yourself repeatedly having to tell your child “Please put your shoes on” and after what feels like the 100th time end up yelling “PUT YOUR SHOES ON OR NO TV TONIGHT!” 

  • Have to leave work early for the 2nd time this week due to your child being asked to go home from school for unsafe behaviors. 

  • Notice your teen visibly upset about something and when you ask they shout “Leave me alone!”

  • Notice yourself repeating the parenting style you received but said you would never repeat.

  • Feel your home is more like walking on eggshells trying to avoid tantrums and arguments with one another.

Raising a child is one of the hardest and most important jobs one can do.

There is an overwhelming amount of invisible labor involved, that can very quickly lead to burn out, making it difficult to parent as the sturdy loving leader you hoped to be. It’s often a thankless job filled with unreasonable expectations and an unfair amount of “shoulds and shouldn'ts.”

Parental stress can impact every aspect of life. Relationships are left feeling drained, anxious, contentious, or possibly resentful. Your career suffers because you're overtired or missing multiple days to tend to your child’s needs. Physical health declines due to the amount of stress that’s piling up and the belief that your child’s needs come first at all times. It’s easy to lose the identity you once had prior to becoming a parent. All of which starts impacting your own mental health.

I'm here to help with every stage of parenting:

  • Becoming a new parent

  • Support parenting a new age & stage (toddlerhood, tweenanger, teenager)

  • Transitions: moving, child entering school, birth of second child, parent returning to work

Helping you become the parent you’ve always wanted to be.

My approach is to provide a non-judgemental space for parents to explore their own personal experiences of being a parent, how they were parented, and how their past influences their parenting today. We will also discuss child development and specific parenting strategies that fit you and your child’s needs in order to create a harmonious relationship.

While there is no such thing as a perfect parent, there is a good enough parent. A good enough parent recognizes that sometimes prioritizing our own needs before others, even our children, is imperative for our own well being and the ability to show up for our children as the parent we want to be. A good enough parent realizes that we aren’t going to perfectly “nail” every parenting moment, and that’s ok. A good enough parent embraces that making mistakes in front of and with our children is a valuable experience that allows us to model repair which deepens our relationships to others.

When we realize we are a good enough parent, we are finally able to be the parent we’ve always wanted to be.

Therapy for Parenting can help you…

  • Improve your relationships with your child or children as well as partner, friends, etc

  • Reconnect to your identity beyond Mom/Dad

  • Reduce power struggles, meltdowns, and arguments

  • Gain knowledge and insight into your child’s development, coping skills, and mental health

  • Receive practical parenting skills tailored to you and your child’s needs

  • Improve your confidence as a parent

  • Confidently be able to decipher your child’s feelings and behaviors in order to provide them with effective support

Your parental well-being is worth investing in.

FAQs

  • No, this service is for anyone in a caregiving role of a child or teen, ages birth to 18 years old.

  • Yes, even if your caregiving role is temporary you can still benefit from therapy. It can be especially helpful because of the unique challenges being a temporary caregiver brings. Oftentimes it includes working with other systems (CPS, social workers, police department, etc) which can be difficult to navigate on your own. Additionally, children and teens in these systems also have unique considerations that are imperative to understand when caregiving for them.

    To begin services I will need to have the legal guardian provide written consent. Reach out for more details.

  • Possibly, it depends on what your parenting goals are and your specific needs. It’s possible they might join a couple sessions or on an as-needed basis.