As parents you are in a unique position to support another person on their journey to adulthood, and it can be both rewarding and incredibly daunting. Taking the time to ensure you are taking care of yourself during that journey can make a huge difference.
Parents have often set themselves the goal of being perfect, of raising amazing, resilient and talented children. It doesn’t take long for the realisation that this is an impossible goal and that parenthood is fraught with obstacles that make it hard to navigate raising and supporting your child to thrive. Parents of children who are struggling behaviourally or emotionally have even more on their plate, with added academic, social, communication, and anxiety challenges thrown in.
We firmly believe that the key to being the parent you want to be lies in your own emotional well-being – identifying your own values and how you can live, and thus parent, in line with those. Doing so can allow you to choose parenting behaviour that is in line with your values, help you develop supportive parent-child relationships and provide you with the tools to cope with the inevitable feelings of overwhelm, incompetence and guilt that will emerge on your parenting journey.
You can read more about the children and families we have supported on our case studies page
If you would like to learn more about this area, or to access group support we have a number of group training sessions available. Check our group training page for more details on what is happening in your area.
For parents who would like to also explore our services for children’s emotional wellbeing check our emotional wellbeing page or for support with a specific emotional or behavioural challenges check our individual who we help pages.
As with all our ACT to Connect services we begin with a free initial consult call so we can talk to you about what you need. We offer individual and group support services, both in person and online. Whether you want to avail of some individualised support for you, or for you as the parent to your child, or as part of a group of parents who are facing similar challenges, we have something that can help.
Being a parent brings with it so much joy and so many challenges! As parents we often focus intently on our children, and our partners, often forgetting to focus on ourselves too. This can lead to feelings of overwhelm, guilt, anxiety, low mood, loss of self and frustration, to name but a few. At ACT to Connect we emphasise the importance of focusing on supporting your own emotional well-being in order to be the parent you want to be for your children. We all know the saying ‘put your own oxygen mask on first’, these sessions will support you to be the best version of yourself, living a life in line with your values, that will include being the parent you wish to be.
There will be times that, as a parent, you may struggle with how to support your child through a specific challenge, or that you may feel you would like help with your parenting skills in general. Those specific challenges could include anxiety, anger, social skills.
At times we can all benefit from the experience of being with a group of parents who are experiencing similar challenges. At Act to Connect we have a range of parent group support services that allow you to access knowledge and understanding of the ways in which you can build resilience and nurture emotional well-being as a parent, while alongside others who are going through similar experiences. Check our Group Support page for more details.
If you feel that your child could also benefit with some additional support in building their own emotional resilience and flexibility we offer a range of 1:1 and group support models for them too. You can find more information on these services on our Emotional Wellbeing page.
With our combined expertise in parent emotional wellbeing and in supporting neurodiverse children, we are in a unique position to be able to combine the two to help you support your neurodiverse child. Whether it is supporting you with your own emotional wellbeing and helping you ‘put your own oxygen mask on first’, or more specifically with how you can support your child, we can help.
Feeling alone in your struggles, especially those that seem to fly in the face of ‘social norms’, can be really difficult. Feeling you can’t let others know you are struggling, and maybe not enjoying your parenting journey the way you thought you should, can feel very lonely. Our parent group support trainings are the perfect way to start working on those feelings and facing your challenges while in the company of other parents who are feeling the same. If you want more support we can also work with you on a 1:1 basis through our ACT for parents or Parent Coaching models. Contact us for an initial consult to see how we can best support you.
Being a parent is tough. Despite the glossy social media photos of perfect family events, always smiling children and immaculately clean houses, every parent has their own struggles. Sometimes it’s a specific issue like a child finding it hard to make friends, or toddler tantrums or a child who is having problems sleeping. Other times it’s a build-up of lots of things that lead to you feeling totally overwhelmed with your role as a parent. We work with parents who wish to build their own skills at being resilient, being able to face their challenges, working towards their values and being their most authentic and empowered self.
