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Brighter Days Counseling

Phone: 0438932742

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13.01.2022 Confused, frustrated and stressed over how to parent these days? Then read on! Its a theme thats been continually coming up in my world lately, and being a parent myself, I thought it the perfect topic to start my fb posts with. Theres a lot of information, theories and discussion out there about how we should be parenting these days. I know as a parent I have questioned myself many times and wondered if Im doing the right thing. I stopped that madness a good while ag...o and acknowledged that my child and our family is unique. There is no one size fits all approach to parenting. I think its also important to acknowledge that the pace of change and the tech heavy world we live in makes parenting today more complex and challenging. Which leads me to personally like the strengths approach and which Id like to share a bit about. In essence its about strengths spotting and doing the most important thing FIRST, which is to put your attention on what is RIGHT with your child/ren before you start addressing issues and problems. I encourage you to try this strength spotting exercise with your child/ren: Get paper and pen out (or crayons, pencils....!) and start a discussion with your child of what they think their strengths are and start listing them. You will probably notice that younger children and tweens will focus on things that they are good at such as sports, music, academia and other talents. All great but now its your turn. Start pointing out their CHARACTER STRENGTHS and notice what happens. I notice that when I start telling a child they are a good listener, kind, considerate and so on that they really soften and start to glow. Their self-esteem is immediately lifted. Does this mean that we have to go around praising our children all day? No! But as I mentioned earlier, its important to acknowledge what is RIGHT with your child FIRST before you start addressing issues and problems. In effect youre changing the relationship dynamic which lays a path for you to have a more relaxed and constructive discussion on issues and problems. Yelling match averted! Taking this approach allows you and your child to utilise their strengths to help work on their weaknesses. So next time an issue comes up try diffusing it by bringing up one of your childs strengths first ie Johnny, you know how we listed one of your strengths as being considerate? Do you really think taking away your sisters toy is being considerate? A basic example but discussion opened! Just a final note. Remember as parents we have our own personal strengths too. A firm favourite of mine is that I learn from my mistakes and failures! So be kind to yourself. I would love to hear your feedback and any questions. If you would like more information on strengths based parenting (apart from contacting me!) Lea Waters is a specialist and has written a great book called The Strength Switch. Looking forward to hearing from you and in the meantime take care. See more

11.01.2022 Welcome to Brighter Days Counseling! I look forward to connecting with you. In the meantime, please check out my offer for new clients and my website where you can find out more about me and my service. You can also read my blog on anxiety and perhaps pick up a few tidbits. I'll be posting regular blogs on various topics, but I would welcome your feedback and suggestions on topics and issues you would like more information or help with. ... Thanks for visiting my page! See more