Parenting Counseling In Houston, TX
Do you need help navigating the bumps in the road of parenting? Parenting counseling can help.
Do you feel insecure about how you are parenting your kids?
Does it feel like everyone else has it together in their parenting and you don’t?
Are your kids challenging you in ways that you don’t have solutions for?
Is your kid struggling and you just don’t know how to help them?
Do you feel disconnected from friends and from your own interests because the challenges of parenting are so time-consuming?
Do you and your partner fight about how to raise your kids?
Do you want to learn to have a more loving, warm relationship with your kids?
Are you overwhelmed by sibling rivalry and fighting?
Are you struggling to co-parent?
Is your child’s behavior making you second-guess your parenting?
If you feel overwhelmed, you are not alone.
Parenting is the hardest job you will ever have. You work hard to get everything done—from your job to household chores, to caring for and spending time with your kids. You get pulled in so many different directions, and it never feels like it’s good enough.
There is no manual for how to do this. You do your best to be there for your kids, but sometimes it helps to have someone with expertise to come alongside you and help you navigate parenting and the complex emotions and stress that come with being a parent. Child-parent relationship counseling can help.
Most parents feel fatigued, overwhelmed, and alone sometimes. This can be especially true when you or your kids are going through transitions such as the birth of your first child, kids starting school, adolescence, etc. It can be tough to navigate these changes. Things don’t always go as smoothly as we want or expect which can be stressful. Moms in particular often have unrealistic expectations that leave them feeling anxious and burdened.
As parents, we can lose parts of our old lives, and our identities sometimes get lost in the business and all-consuming nature of parenting. Talking to a parenting coach can help you slow down, learn to take time for yourself, and thoughtfully think through things from a different perspective. It can also help you integrate the parts of your old life that are still meaningful to you with your new life as a parent.
Parenting counseling is a proactive way to find solutions, build confidence, and make real change in your family.
We have trained therapists who are also parents, so we've been there. We can help you process what is not working in your family life and in your parenting and develop a plan to make changes. Every family and their needs are different, so we will tailor our plan to your unique situation.
A counselor can be part of your support system, bring out the best that is in you, and help you pivot away from techniques or patterns that are no longer functional. These parenting techniques can go a long way towards improving your relationship with your kids and giving you peace of mind.
You spend a great deal of time, effort, money and emotional capital raising kids. You would do anything for them. The investment you make in parent counseling can help bring all of those things together.
Counseling can help guide you through the joys and pitfalls of parenting. It is a relief to process what is going on with your kids and how it is affecting you. And it helps to get expert advice on how to move forward when there are problems.
Parenting can be especially tricky if you are divorced. It can be hard to co-parent when there are differences in terms of expectations. This can often lead to conflict with your ex-spouse and can put pressure on your child who often feels torn to choose sides. Counseling for divorced parents can help you navigate those differences.
According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the main responsibilities of a parent include the following:
To foster your child’s medical and developmental needs
To protect your child from harm
To spend quality time with your child
To actively listen to your child
To set limits for your child
To guide your child and provide structure to his or her life
To provide stability and consistency
To supervise your child’s relationships and friendships
Parenting counseling can help you to:
Feel more confident about your parenting by discussing parenting skills education
Develop closeness with your child
Learn methods to discipline and apply consequences that work for your family and help foster independence in your child
Feel calmer, develop coping skills and a self-care routine
Learn what red flags to look for that may signal problems in your children
Decrease your guilt and increase your joy in parenting
Help you and your partner to navigate differences in parenting
Learn to manage the transition of adoption or fostering a new child
Define what the values are in your family that you want to instill in your children
Parent coaching may be right for you if you have had these thoughts:
I keep messing up and worry about the effect it will have on my kids in the future.
People can tell I don't know what I am doing as a parent.
Will I ever agree with my spouse on how to parent my kids?
Everyone else seems to have it together, but I feel clueless.
What is wrong with my kids?
I just can't be as good at my job or at parenting as I want to be.
Co-Parenting Counseling
Even in a happy marriage, couples often disagree about how to raise children. If you are separated or divorced, that task can be even more complicated. It is, however, worth the effort to work together with your ex as amicably as you can. Kids are observant and they pick up on tensions between parents. They crave stability. You don’t have to be married or living together to give your children stability.
If you are a parent and need help learning to parent with your ex, co-parenting counseling may be right for you. Co-parenting therapy is different from marriage counseling. With marriage counseling, parties attempt to save their marriage. With co-parenting counseling, the relationship is over, but the parties still need help in improving their mutual abilities to work together after breaking up, as co-functioning joint parents on child-related issues.
Co-parenting therapy is not designed to dwell unnecessarily on events of the past, or to put blame on either party for the failed marriage or relationship. Rather, it is designed to look forward rather, and to help both parties peacefully co-exist in a way where they can address issues concerning their children without having to endless spend time, money, and negative energies on unnecessary battles and repeated return trips to court after divorce.
For tips on how to be a good co-parent, check out our blog post “How to be a good co-parent.”
You think parenting counseling can help, but still have some questions or concerns…
I am so busy, how can I make time for counseling?
Life is full and stressful already. It may feel like you don’t have a free moment. How in the world are you going to add counseling to your already busy schedule? What I have found is what people find time for the things that really matter. And when they make time for therapy, it tends to add time to their schedule because they are able to live life in a more efficient way, set boundaries, and have less stress (which oftentimes distracts people from getting things done).
My partner doesn’t want to come to counseling. Can I come alone?
Definitely! Parent counseling can be helpful whether you do it alone or with your partner. Either way, you can get advice and counseling which will help you as you navigate parenting.
I shouldn’t need counseling. What’s wrong with me?
Everyone needs help from time to time. Kids don’t come with a manual, and there is a steep learning curve. And just when you think you have figured things out, there is a new challenge, or kids change and move to a new developmental stage. It helps to be able to process the challenges and to get hands-on tools and advice about how to parent. All parents struggle. You are not alone in that.
Does getting counseling for parenting mean I am a bad parent?
The truth is there is no shame in seeking parenting therapy. And, if you decide to do so, it doesn’t mean you are a “bad parent.” The decision to work with a parenting therapist just means that you are brave enough to ask for and smart enough to know when you need help. In fact, turning to a parenting therapist is the first step in providing your children with stability, while acquiring the support you need to be the best parent you can be. Honestly, one of the best ways to be a “good parent” is to simply love your children unconditionally.
Counseling is too expensive.
Your family means the world to you. Being a good parent is important to you. The money you invest in parent counseling can help you be the best parent you can be. Your happiness is largely affected by your relationship with your kids and how you feel about yourself. This investment in counseling will pay dividends in terms of peace of mind. Think of it as a long-term investment in your family.
We specialize in Parent Counseling in Houston, TX
You can improve Your Relationship with your kids and have peace of mind!
Schedule an appointment or have a free 15-minute phone consultation about how parent counseling or co-parent counseling can help you create a healthy, meaningful, empowered life.
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In addition to Parenting Counseling, we have other mental health services in our Houston, TX counseling office in the following areas. Our caring therapists also offer:
Online Counseling, Anxiety Treatment, Eating Disorder Counseling, Family Therapy, School and College Counseling, Child Therapy, EMDR/Trauma Therapy, Infertility Counseling, Teen Counseling, Couples and Marriage Counseling, Career Counseling, LPC Supervision, LGBTQ+ Counseling.
If you’re ready to get started, please contact Wilson Counseling today.
