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This treasured symbol is one of the guiding touchstones in my work with parents. I always keep it nearby because it keeps me anchored and mindful in my work.
If you look closely you will notice that the grown up elephant has had one or two mishaps! Who hasn’t felt like this as a parent? And like this elephant, we are usually good at putting ourselves back together and keeping the show on the road! I am especially proud of my own surgical efforts here!
Supporting and empowering parents to connect with their instincts and tap into their potential is a huge passion of mine. My work with parents is exciting to me and I love to hear all about the positive changes that parents tell me about in their families.
I aim to listen, to understand and to really be with parents in hard and overwhelming times. I want to support parents to strengthen their relationships with themselves and their children. We work together to bring more joy, playfulness, connection and harmony into families.
My work can help parents to understand what may be going on for their child. When parents
understand things differently they are able to respond differently in newer and more child-centred
ways. My work looks at supporting parents to develop new skills to communicate and connect with their
children more effectively and more meaningfully.
Parenting is THE toughest job I have ever had. It was way easier when I was doing it in my head! I really
wasn’t prepared for how life changing it was going to be. I totally get where parents are at and where
they are coming from, especially as we emerge from a very trying, stressful and draining few years.
As a mental health professional, I know exactly what I am meant to do and say “in theory”. Do I always
get it right in the moment? Absolutely not!! Like everyone else I am only human.
A lot of my work with parents involves gently looking at their self-care and support systems. This is not
about adding more things to the never ending “to-do” list. This only adds to the stress of feeling like
things are not getting done and there is never enough time to do them. It is more about looking at the
support systems they have in place, at what is working well and building on that. This also involves
looking at what is not working and gently and supportively looking at new ways of being with and
helping your child to cope with things they are finding tricky.
Sometimes parents contact me when they are in crisis, when they are feeling out of their depth or when
things have really gotten off track. There can be intense feelings of overwhelm, frustration, helplessness
and confusion for them. They are very often at the end of their tether. What I would say is that it can
take time to work through these stressors and feelings to figure out what’s needed and what will help.
There is no quick fix or magic wand session that will be able to sort everything out in one go! I think it’s
important to name this because change takes time, effort, patience and commitment. There is no one
size fits all approach that will work for every child, parent and their unique situation. This is why I
recommend that parents commit to a minimum number of sessions to give things a proper chance.
With all of this in mind, I offer a range of supports for parents….
The parent-child connection is the most powerful mental health intervention known to mankind.
Bessel van der Kolk
The Swallow's Trail 