What is Parenting Support?
Parenting is the process of raising children by providing care, protection, and instilling certain values that promote development into healthy, well-rounded adults. This process can be difficult and challenging. Parenting support – also known as parenting therapy - provides you with the guidance and resources required to create a healthy and stable environment where your child can grow and thrive.
Factors of Good Parenting
Good parenting is a process of fostering positive character traits in your child. Factors of good parenting include:
- Fostering Independence: Parents should encourage their children to think independently and be in control of their lives.
- Encouraging Socializing: Parents should help their children make friends and develop positive connections with others.
- Showing Support: Parents should be supportive of children in all their academic and extracurricular activities.
- Developing/Earning Trust: Parents should act and behave in a manner that helps children to trust them and also develops trustworthiness within themselves.
- Responsibility: Parents should provide age-appropriate tasks and chores that require their children to assume increasing levels of responsibility.
- Involvement: Parents need to become involved in every stage of a child’s growth, whether it is performing activities together, attending school events, or discussing their child’s daily life.
- Guidance: Parents can guide their children in becoming successful in their chosen field, but should avoid micromanagement.
- Discipline: Parents should set guidelines and teach discipline so that children develop sound moral values.
- Love: Love is the most important factor of good parenting. This develops self-belief and facilitates the healthy growth and development of your child.
Indications for Parenting Support
You might benefit from parenting support if you have been experiencing increased stress and anxiety in the process of raising your child - especially if this strain has affected other areas of your life such as your job or your relationship with your partner. Conversely, external factors like financial problems, marital problems, relocating to a new place, and physical or mental issues can also interfere with your ability to be an effective parent. In such instances, seeking parenting support from a qualified mental health professional may be indicated.
Psychotherapy for Parenting Support
Parenting issues can lead to stress, depression, worries, and a poorer quality of life. Depending on your specific situation, your therapist may recommend the following assistive techniques:
- Family Therapy: This therapy helps to address issues that affect the whole family. The concerns that affect each member can be brought forward to bring out effective solutions.
- Parenting Support Groups: This involves meeting with a group of people who share similar issues and challenges. Discussing these problems can be beneficial to other parents facing similar challenges.
- One-On-One Therapy: The therapist provides individualized therapy to support and encourage parents who might be having unique problems and challenges in raising their children.
- Parenting Classes: These classes cover a variety of general topics such as improving grades at school and developing good communication skills between parents and children.
- Couples Counseling: This helps to strengthen the partnership between couples so they can work together to improve their parenting skills.