PARENTING
Let’s face it. Parenting is the toughest job there is. We love our children tremendously, we want to give them the best parenting possible, and we want for them to flourish. We also know that we impact our children positively and negatively through our attitudes and actions. And parenting is the most important job there is: The leaders of tomorrow are our children. They are our future. And of course for them to thrive as we wish, we know that our children require all kinds of our energies: time, money, emotional and mental presence. So it is understandable that we at times become perplexed and overwhelmed with fear, guilt, sadness, confusion, and even anger when we find ourselves parenting in ways that do not meet our ideals. And yet, despite how hard it can be, we know that parenting is what we value most, and where we find our greatest joy. Supportive counseling and psychotherapy may greatly help a family to find more connection, fulfillment, and appreciation with one another.
Unique concerns may arise for families depending on family structure:Parenting the Infant
Parenting the Toddler
Parenting the Growing Child
Parenting the Teen
Single Parenting
Step Parenting
Two Parent (Nuclear) Family
Blended Family
Gay or Lesbian Parent(s)
Multi-Generational Household
Parents may have questions and concerns with:Discipline
Childhood Development
Crying and Tantrums
Nursing
Bed Sharing
Day Care
Education
Substance Abuse
Violence
Social Support for Parents
Parents’ Family of Origin Issues
Sexuality and Intimacy While Parenting
Individuality While Parenting
Divorce and Separation
Post-Divorce/Separation Collaborative Parenting
Childhood and Teen Depression
Chronic Childhood Illness
Counseling can support parents as they strive to make sense of their experiences with their children and as they work to build close and loving bonds with them. I offer supportive parenting counseling and psychotherapy for individuals and couples, as well as family counseling.
Support for Pregnancy and Fertility, Adoption, and Families with Infants
Pregnancy and the first year of life are times of great excitement and great change. It is a sensitive time during which attachment with your baby is your central focus, and rightly so. A strong attachment between parent and child increases a child’s long-term chances for emotional stability, positive self-regard, and ability to care for others. Parents who are strongly attached to their children derive greater satisfaction from parenting as well. Good physical and emotional self-care for the mother and the parenting partner are vital elements to creating strong attachments with children.
Adoption, like pregnancy and childbearing, is an exciting time, with its own unique set of frustrations, fears, and joys. And the circumstances of the adoption can greatly impact these feelings. The adoption may be open or closed, American or foreign, and the child may be an infant or teen, or have come to be placed for adoption voluntarily or permanently removed from his or her home by a government agency.
Sometimes fertility is an issue that can bring about great hope, fear, and sadness. Individuals and couples striving to conceive may experience feelings of inadequacy and disappointment. Miscarriage can also be devastating and difficult to process, as it is often a hidden grief within society, especially for early miscarriages.
I offer supportive pregnancy and post-pregnancy/adoption counseling for families with new children, expected or arrived, as well as counseling for individuals and couples struggling with fertility issues and grief from miscarriage.
Parenting Resource Links
Naomi Aldort, PhD
“Naomi Aldort is a parenting counselor, internationally published writer, and public speaker.” She has written, Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves, which is available for order from her website, where you may also find insightful parenting articles.
Any Baby Can / Candlelighters
Resources and support for families with children with disabilities and chronic illnesses, including childhood cancer. (512) 454-3743
AustinMamas.com
“Connecting and celebrating Austin’s varied community of thinking mamas.”
Aware Parenting Institute
Run by Aletha Solter, PhD, “Aware Parenting is a philosophy of child-rearing that has the potential to change the world. Based on cutting-edge research and insights in child development, Aware Parenting questions most traditional assumptions about raising children, and proposes a new approach that can profoundly shift a parent's relationship with his or her child. Parents who follow this approach raise children who are bright, compassionate, competent, nonviolent, and drug free.” Dr. Solter has written, The Aware Baby, Tears and Tantrums, Helping Young People Flourish, and Raising Drug-Free Kids, all available for order on her website.
Parents Anonymous of Texas
An agency dedicated to the support of parents and the prevention of child abuse. (512) 459-5490
Kindred Magazine
Formerly Byronchild Magazine, Kindred Magazine “recognizes the inherent importance and worth of our shared custodianship of the future of our world through our children not only as parents but also as members of the human community. We support the task of conscious parenting through considering the needs of children and parents within a world that is rapidly changing...We understand that there is no formula for meeting each person’s individual challenges and therefore trust each parent’s innate ability to know and intuit what is right for their child.”
Mothering Magazine
“Mothering celebrates the experience of parenthood as worthy of one's best efforts and fosters awareness of the immense importance and value of parenthood and family life in the development of the full human potential. As a readers' magazine, we recognize parents as the experts and wish to provide truly helpful information upon which parents can base informed choices.”
NaturePlay
A gardening innovation run by Anna Alkin with its heart in nurturing creative connections between children, parents, and nature. (512) 560-6512
Dr. William Sears
“Dr. Sears, or Dr. Bill as his 'little patients' call him, is the father of eight children as well as the author of over 30 books on childcare. Dr. Bill is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.” Dr. Sears has written several parenting handbooks promoting attachment theory.
Daniel J. Siegel, MD
Dr. Siegel is a renowned psychotherapist, speaker and author with a background in attachment theory as it relates to emotions, behavior, and autobiographical memory and narrative. He has written, The Developing Mind: Toward a Neurobiology of Interpersonal Experience, and Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive, which may be ordered from his website.
Texas Parent to Parent
“Providing support and information to families of children with disabilities, chronic illness, and other special needs.” Toll-free: (866) 896-6001; Austin Local: (512) 458-8600
Wildest Colts Resources
Run by John Breeding, PhD, Wildest Colts Resources “offers support for adults in their work with young people, especially in challenging situations, and defense of parents from coercion, and young people from labeling and drugs.” Dr. Breeding has written parenting books, The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, and True Nature and Great Misunderstandings. These books may be ordered directly from Dr. Breeding's website where you will find additional parenting articles and tremendous information and literature pertaining to biomedical mental health. Aside from his parenting expertise, Dr. Breeding is also a crusader in the cause for freedom from psychiatric oppression.