Parenting Counseling

Are You Finding It Difficult To Support Your Child Or Teen In A Meaningful Way?

Is parenting stress impacting your ability to connect with your child?

Are their big emotions, academic struggles, or behavioral issues becoming increasingly hard to manage?

Is ongoing conflict seeping its way into the entire family dynamic?

Could you benefit from the guidance of a therapist who specializes in child development and parenting?

Raising kids can be challenging. Whether your child is struggling with ongoing issues, or you and your partner have a hard time coming to a consensus on how to approach problems within the family unit, some aspects of parenting can feel impossible at times.

Though you may be determined not to repeat unhealthy parenting models from your own childhood, you might find yourself falling back into old patterns when frustrated. Or perhaps you are so inundated with anxiety about your child, their future, and if you are handling their growth and development in the “right” way. You may be questioning whether your parenting approach honors both your family values and your mental health.

If you have noticed a sudden shift in your child or teen’s behavior, you may be concerned about their mental health. They may have become increasingly defiant or closed off, impacting the entire family dynamic. And this may be especially hard for you if you had similar struggles with your parents when you were younger.

We understand that you don’t want to continue an unhealthy pattern in your family dynamic—you just want your kids to be happy, healthy, and successful for years to come. Our therapists will work with you, as well as your children, to understand the impact of trauma and help put an end to the cycles that perpetuate it.

As Our Children Grow, We Are Forced To Figure Out How To Make Room For Both Their Needs And Ours

Children—particularly during their adolescence—are tricky to understand, especially when it comes to the individuating process. The journey to independence often involves confusion, conflict, and heartache. And while it’s essential to maintain an objective viewpoint, we as parents are prone to bringing our personal anxieties and experiences into our relationships with our kids.

Unfortunately, many parents are reluctant to admit that they need help or don’t know where to look for support. There is a lot of pressure on our kids, coming from many different angles, and certain standards have changed since we were growing up. Not to mention, the “Keeping Up With The Jones” mentality remains prevalent, intensified by the comparison culture of social media, and many of us have a hard time acknowledging blind spots in our parenting approach.

When our children struggle or when there is strain on the parent-child relationship, we put an unrealistic expectation on ourselves that we should know what to do. And we often put the onus on our kids to rectify their behaviors and do what’s right. The truth is that both parent and child are responsible for maintaining a healthy, loving relationship. Fortunately, counseling offers vital insight and strategies for parenting in an effective, value-driven way.

MLB Specializes In Parenting-Specific Counseling

While counseling can certainly be helpful for your child if they are struggling with their mental health and relationships, you’d probably be surprised by how much therapy for you can benefit your child. As you gain meaningful insight into your own internal processes and relational blueprints, you can take steps to adjust your emotional response. In this regard, therapy might just be the key to parenting with your values and establishing harmony among the entire family.

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Our Approach

Our providers are trained in family-specific therapies and systemic approaches that are designed to strengthen relationships. Structural Family Therapy (SFT) and Multisystemic Therapy (MST) are two modalities we use when examining the hierarchy of the family as a whole, establishing boundaries, and creating strong, consistent parenting models. We also consider where children are developmentally, as well as the cultural aspects that may be influencing certain expectations and norms.

Throughout the counseling process, your therapist will work with you to identify goals and foster a new level of self-understanding that will allow you to parent with consistency. In order to achieve newfound awareness, your therapist may explore such elements as your internal dialogue, your beliefs, and your own childhood experiences with you to help you adjust your parenting mindset. From there, you will enhance your coping skills and strategies so that you can facilitate incremental changes within the family dynamic that have the power to yield significant results.

Despite being surrounded at home, parenting can be an isolating endeavor—but counseling can make all the difference. Our therapists will work with you to enhance a sense of collaboration and shared goals within your family. Parenting-specific therapy can help you recognize that though you cannot control your child, focusing on yourself may be what’s needed for your family to flourish.

photo of two parents playing tea party with their child

Still Unsure If Counseling Is Right For You?

Wouldn’t it be better for my child to go to therapy?

There is no doubt that therapy can enhance your child’s mental health. That said, there are often scenarios where guiding you, the parent, is likely to have the most meaningful outcome. After all, you have the most influence on your child, and counseling can be deeply transformative in identifying the parenting models you had as a child and increasing your stress management skills at home.

Our clinicians are trained and experienced in working with children and teens in therapy, and we are confident that our multisystemic approach can help parents, too.

I would rather work with a parenting therapist who is less expensive/covered by insurance.

We understand that counseling is an investment, yet our clinicians are highly trained family therapists with experience working with children and teens of all ages and their parents. Though it may be tempting to seek more affordable counseling, it’s important to consider their qualifications and experience working with parenting-specific issues.

Because we specialize in therapy for parents, the therapeutic process is likely to move quicker, thereby saving you money in the long run.

We’ve already read every parenting book out there and even tried counseling in the past—why should we bother coming to MLB Therapy?

While we cannot speak to the services you received before, we can assure you that our therapists are trained in the foremost familial, systemic, and parenting approaches. Our providers strive to connect with each client, identify their unique needs, and work diligently to create an actionable plan.

We invite you to contact us to learn more about whether we would be a good fit for your family.

Adjust Your Parenting Approach, Improve Your Relationship With Your Child

If your child is not responding to you in the way you want, or if parenting stress is taking a toll on your mental health, counseling through MLB Therapy can help foster strong and healthy relationships within your family. To find out more about our services, contact us.