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Hello my fellow warriors, ahem, parents!!
I am so lucky to have two amazing kids, it is truly one of the biggest joys in my life and what I consider to be my most important role. At the same time, it is SO hard. SO SO hard. The most challenging thing that I have ever, and will ever do in my life. Did I mention that it is hard?!
One of the most difficult (but wonderful) things about being a parent, is how much it forces you to grow as a person. You are never more acutely aware of your personal shortcomings, until you have a tiny child wholly relying on you for their emotional and physical needs. At the same time, the love that we have for these tiny humans provides a lot of motivation to improve ourselves and in turn on how we support them.
My parenting philosophy
I am a big advocate for improving our own emotional management, self care, and overall mental health in order to be the best parents we can for our children. I am also passionate about using positive parenting approaches with my children, teaching these approaches to parents in my therapy practice, and now sharing those resources here on Grow Through It With Britt!
Positive parenting is an approach to raising children that focuses on encouraging and supporting their growth rather than punishments or control. This parenting style is based on mutual respect, open communication, and empathy. Positive parenting has become increasingly popular in recent years, and for good reason – it can lead to happier, healthier, and more successful children.
It is important to note that positive parenting is not permissive parenting. It is not an “anything goes” type of approach. Parents need to be leaders in the household and provide expectations and boundaries for their children. However, this is done while highly valuing connection and strongly considering children’s emotional needs.
The kind of parenting support you can expect to find here
If we know that parenting is hard, then the only way that we can get through it is together. Parents need support! They need help navigating the many difficult situations that they will run into with their children. They need help to know how to handle their children’s emotions, difficult behavior, and mental health struggles. At Grow Through It With Britt, here’s the type of support you can expect:
1. Resources for modeling positive behavior. I believe that parents should lead by example and behave in ways that they want their children to emulate. In some ways, this sounds a lot more straightforward than it is. Sometimes it can be more complicated than we expect. As such, on this website you will find examples and scripts of how we can use this powerful parenting principle with your children.
2. How to effectively use positive reinforcement. As a child and adolescent therapist, I’ve found that there are ways to use positive reinforcement that are most effective, and some that just don’t work the way we hope. It’s not all about rewards, nor should it be. We will explore how and what to reinforce, and what not to as well as what reinforcement is not effective for.
3. How to set clear and consistent boundaries. Children thrive when they know what is expected of them and when those expectations are consistent. Parents can set boundaries by creating clear rules and expectations, and then enforcing them with positive consequences for positive behavior.
4. How to facilitate a relationship that involves open communication with your children. Parents should listen to their children and validate their feelings, even if they don’t always agree with them. This helps children feel heard and understood, which can lead to stronger relationships and better behavior.
5. Resources for focusing on the strengths and abilities of your child. Rather than comparing them to others or highlighting their weaknesses, parents should focus on their child’s unique strengths and interests. This can help build self-esteem and confidence, which can lead to better behavior and outcomes.
6. Help with focusing on your own self-care and emotional regulation as a parent, in order to allow for successful co-regulation with your children. It can be so tough to emotionally regulate ourselves in the midst of our children struggling with big emotions and behavior. At the same time, this is one of the most important keys to building our children’s regulation skills and having a strong connection with our child.
7. Last, but not least, as a child and adolescent therapist I have expertise in helping parents respond to their children’s mental health struggles including anxiety, depression, OCD, and more. Although we do not cause these struggles for our children, we play an important role in their ability to get better.
When we work on ourselves and our parenting, we can help to reduce stress and improve overall family dynamics. We can also help to strengthen our parent-child relationship, which can provide a strong foundation for our children’s future development. Children who are raised with positive parenting tend to have higher self-esteem, better social skills, and stronger emotional regulation skills. They also tend to be more successful academically and have better mental health outcomes.
If you’re here, reading this, you are probably the type of person who is willing to put some work into improving their parenting and their relationship with their child. You are the type of person who is not afraid to admit you don’t know everything and is willing to get help and support when you need it. That means you are my kind of person!! Stick around!
Keep growing,
Want to learn more?
Here’s a link to all of our parenting posts