Parenting Coaching:
A Relational Approach

"One thing I know for sure about raising children is that every single day a kid needs discipline and every single day a kid needs a break."    --- Anne Lamott

The Magic and the Mystery is in Knowing When They Need Which One

As parents, most of us struggle with the balance between being understanding of our kids’ and teens’ experiences and perspectives and holding them to clear standards and expectations. We want the best for them. We want them to be safe and protected, but not so sheltered that they don’t develop a capacity for resilience and problem-solving. We want them to learn the value of hard work and determination, but we also want them to experience joy and fun. We want them to learn to find their way in the world, to manage risk, to achieve, to love, and to stay connected to us.

We worry that the behaviors we see today will compromise their safety or limit their future options. We wish for a crystal ball to tell us that we’re doing the right thing. To tell us that they’re going to be ok. We wish for a user’s manual that will tell us the right thing to do for this specific kid at this particular stage in these unique circumstances.

Unfortunately, in parenting, like all relationships, there are no guarantees. But there are approaches, supports, methods, tools, and resources that can help us to make the experience feel less uncertain, less difficult, and more satisfying and connected. 

Savvy Strategies Relational Parenting Coaching, based on the principles of renowned Family Therapist Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy, helps parents to learn and to utilize the tools and practices of relationality to improve not only their communication skills but also, their own emotional reactions to create more effective and satisfying interactions with their kids and teens.

By learning how to cultivate curiosity, express support, and maintain compassion, parents can deepen and strengthen their relationships with their kids, to nurture them in all of the essential developmental areas of their lives, without neglecting the fundamental parental responsibilities to provide critical guidance, and to set appropriate limits on their kids and their behavior.

Relational Parenting Coaching is designed to help all kinds of parents and families. For parents who are looking for a sounding board, advice, and some skills to help them through a new phase or transition, I have a variety of tools, techniques, resources, and experience to assist and to guide.

For parents who feel like they don’t know what the right balance of freedom and limits should be for their kids, I can provide resources that clarify research-based outcomes for various practices. At the same time, I also help you to work through your own values, beliefs, issues, and goals to help you to develop best practices for your particular family and your individual children.

For couples who feel like parenting has become an area of conflict instead of connection, I can help you to work through your differences and share your perspectives from a place of curiosity and appreciation instead of contentious arguments where each of you feels angry and frustrated when you can’t seem to convince your partner to change their beliefs or positions.

For families who have lost the sense of love, peace, and joy in their household and instead feel like their interactions have become an endless series of struggles, negotiations, strife, and hostility, I can help you to find the peace and understanding to approach each other more effectively and constructively. 

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It doesn’t have to be this difficult. You can heal the damage and build authentic, connected, and loving family relationships. 

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If you want to heal the damage that gets in the way of family connection, I’d love to help you get there. Reach out. I can help. 

The relationship that you wish for with your kids is possible, but sometimes skills and tools aren’t enough to get you there. Most of us have times in our lives when we need help to rebuild the trust, understanding, and connection in our family relationships.

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If this is where you are - reach out. I can help.