Sometimes parenting can be a tough job and children can quickly become overwhelmed with "big" feelings. Often these feelings will spill over into upsetting or inappropriate behaviour. When flooded with feelings children's "flight, fight, freeze" response can be quickly triggered leaving your child feeling "out of control". Using up-to-date brain science I can support both you and your child to understand what is happening when feelings become unmanageable. Alongside this psycho-education I will offer strategies using aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness to help lower the intensity of feelings and help you and your child feel more in control.
Many children and young people today are experiencing high levels of anxiety and this can be very difficult to manage as a parent. It is normal for parents to also feel worried and "out of depth" when a child is overly anxious about normal everyday situations such as leaving the house, going to school or going to sleep. Using Emotion Coaching we can work together to help you understand and manage your own anxiety which in turn should reduce your child's worries to more manageable levels. Practising Mindfulness not only help to identify negative thoughts which "feed" anxiety but is proven to help self-regulate and help with the somatic symptoms of anxiety such as stomach aches, head aches and feeling faint.
Many children and young people find it difficult to manage their feelings and this can spill out asanger resulting in strained or fractured relationships at home and school. Parental support in this area can be valuable to help identify the triggers for the anger as well as looking for workable strategies for managing it before it gets out of control.
Sometimes sad things happen and children encounter strong feelings ofgrief and loss. As a trained bereavement counsellor I can help you to support your child during these difficult times.
Alongside my direct work with your child I like to offer guidance and support to you as parents. This may be a short conversation at the end of a counselling session, a pre-arranged face to face or phone consultation or sometimes it can be useful for parents to work alongside their child in a session. Parental support means working together to develop specific emotion coaching techniques that will allow you to "tune" into your child. Emotion Coaching will help you and your child understand how you both are feeling before looking for solutions.
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