Many parents refer to the “terrible twos” long before and after their child’s second birthday. The focus of my work, is helping parents identify their child’s temperament, and develop effective parenting responses. At the intersection of your child’s developmental needs, there is also the temperament of each parent, and your coping abilities in stressful situations. Over the course of your parenting career it is inevitable that you will live through challenging moments, times, and phases when you will be asking yourselves how much longer can this go on.
The calming reflex is active in newborns, Dr. Harvey Karp author of the Happiest Baby on the Block has taught thousands of parents how they can use this to soothe their fussy babies. When you have an active toddler testing your patience, wouldn’t it be nice to elicit a calming response? You can learn how to self-regulate your emotional responses even when your patience has been endlessly tested. Few parents realize when they react angrily to their out of control child that they are actually setting in motion a vicious cycle of escalating emotions.
Naturally, there are times that parents grow weary of putting their children’s needs first, and may feel embarrassed to admit having thoughts of: “what about me?” These are natural feelings, sometimes hard to verbalize and share with your partner. Social media continuously reminds you that parenting is supposed to be a joyful experience. Or, someone has posted: “This is the worst, most horrible day of my life,” making public these endless complaints and statements demonstrating how parents feel powerless.
I understand the challenges are multi-dimensional, and involve the intersection of children’s, siblings, or parents’ competing needs coming from inside and outside the family. I enjoy helping parents to achieve a calm parental presence that connects you with your children.