Parenting

We embark on our parenting journey with good intentions and strong opinions about what we’re going to do better or differently than our parents did.  Yet nothing provokes intense emotions like parenting, and we often find ourselves doing the very things we fervently hoped we wouldn’t.

From conception, fears, and worries abound. Others feel privileged to express unsolicited opinions about the RIGHT way to parent, and multiple books, talk shows, and scholarly articles describe exactly what one should do in order to get it right. Today’s competitive parenting, bullying, gender/sexuality concerns, screen time restrictions and more leave many feeling inadequate, insufficient and worried about whether they are raising happy, productive citizens or causing permanent emotional scars.

Research shows that psychologically healthy children are raised by psychologically healthy parents who have the capacity to attune to their children. Attunement describes the ability to “tune in” to children’s mental experiences and help them understand their thoughts, feelings, preferences, and temperaments. Under most normal conditions, adequate attunement leads to good attachments. Good attachment is one of the strongest predictors of a well-adjusted child.

At Chrysalis, we are equipped to teach skills to and problem solve with parents. But more importantly, we help free up one’s ability to “tune in” to their child, which we believe is the best way to help parents. This often involves exploring the ways one was parented with an attentive “tuned in” therapist who understands the intensity of the parenting experience. Together we can remove the barriers that sit between parent and child so that each can again find the other in mutually gratifying interactions.