Parent Counselling in Calgary

​Healthy parenting involves setting clear and consistent expectations for children and teens. Healthy parenting involves allowing children to problem solve, make mistakes, and learn from the consequences. Setting boundaries helps children learn self-regulation skills and long-term coping strategies. When parents are feeling emotionally healthy, they are better able to cope with parenting challenges and model problem solving and emotion regulation strategies. When we learn healthy parenting strategies, we can help build resilience and strength in our children. Some strategies that have been shown to be effective for many parents include:

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  Positive reinforcement: Reinforce positive behavior by acknowledging and praising your child when they follow your rules and expectations.

• Consistent and clear boundaries: Set clear and consistent boundaries for your child and enforce them in a predictable and consistent manner.

• Active listening: Practice active listening to understand your child's perspective and to build a strong, trusting relationship.

• Empathy: Show empathy towards your child's feelings and experiences to foster emotional regulation and to build a strong connection.

• Problem-solving: Encourage your child to develop problem-solving skills by giving them opportunities to find solutions to problems on their own.

• Positive discipline: Use positive discipline techniques, such as natural consequences and positive reinforcement, instead of punishment to promote good behavior.

• Encouragement and support: Encourage and support your child's interests and goals, and help them build self-esteem and confidence.

• Flexibility: Be flexible and adaptable in your parenting approach, and be willing to modify your strategies as your child grows and develops.

Setting healthy boundaries with children is an important part of good parenting. Some general guidelines for boundary setting include:

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  Communicate clearly: Clearly communicate your expectations and boundaries to your children in a way that they can understand. Explain the reasons behind your rules and the consequences of breaking them.

• Be consistent: Consistently enforce your boundaries and consequences. Children need predictable, consistent rules to feel secure and to understand what is expected of them.

• Use natural consequences: Whenever possible, allow natural consequences to occur as a result of your child's actions. For example, if your child doesn't clean up their toys, they may not be able to play with them the next day.

• Offer choices: Give your child choices within the boundaries you have set. For example, you can ask them to choose between two healthy snacks or two activities that are acceptable to you.

• Be flexible: Be open to adjusting your boundaries as your child grows and develops. Children's needs and abilities change over time, and your boundaries should reflect that.

• Provide positive reinforcement: Reinforce positive behavior by acknowledging and praising your child when they follow your rules and boundaries.

  By setting healthy boundaries and consistently enforcing them, you can help your children feel safe, secure, and respected, and can promote their emotional, social, and intellectual development

Our goal at Creative Sky Psychology is to address your challenges and concerns that you and/or your spouse have with your children. Parenting is difficult, and we want to provide you and/or your spouse with tools and strategies to make this process easier. You will spend sessions with your therapist talking about the difficulties you experience and what you can do to foster a healthier environment for your children.

If you are feeling burnt out, overwhelmed and exhausted, we want to help you understand the importance of taking care of yourself emotionally, mentally and physically as parents. Sometimes it is hard to realise how our current emotional, mental and physical state affect our children. This way, you are able to speak with a professional who can support you and provide guidance without concern of judgement or reprisal.

We do both. Parent therapy helps you explore emotional blocks and deeper patterns. Parent coaching focuses on actionable tools and strategies. You can do either — or a mix.

Yes — in fact, your role is critical. We help you understand your child’s needs and offer tools that work with their brain, not against it.

No. Most parent counselling sessions are for adults only. We also offer child therapy separately when needed.