Conscious Parenting – help for you your child and your whole family
Discover How to Dance Gracefully with your Child without Stepping on Each Other’s Feet
What is conscious parenting?
Conscious parenting is an attitude and a way of being that parents can choose to adopt when they relate and respond to their children. At its core, the conscious parenting approach is about increasing awareness. It entails becoming more mindful of what the parent is already doing now and whether and how the parent wishes to modify what they are doing.
In conscious parenting parents are encouraged to notice their inner feelings, thoughts, and reactions while interacting with their children. Special emphasis is given to the “dance” of action and reaction of the parent to the behavior and feelings of the child.
In conscious parenting:
The parent’s awareness of the parent-child relationship provides a framework for incorporating skills that can enhance the “dance” with their child.
The parent learns to create and sustain a positive climate in their home
The essence of the child and the child’s inherent goodness is valued and acknowledged by the parent.
The child is respected and honored as an individual, and the parent helps the child to discover his/her uniqueness.
Key Steps and tools in the conscious parenting model:
- Gain awareness of where you are at and what you are feeling as a parent.
- Core tool – thinking systems, thinking “dances”.
- Attachment theory – connect first, then direct.
- Listening to your child and validating their feelings.
- Gaining cooperation through describing.
- Giving choices.
- Creating a team for family meetings and problem solving.
- Working with and changing your home environment. [food, screen-time, blue light, cell phones, and more]
- Apply the tools and practice.
- Putting it all together.
How can the conscious parenting approach help me and my family?
The approach has practical, useful, real-life implications that are often positive and beneficial. First and foremost, conscious parents develop an ongoing awareness of the parent-child “dance”. Through this awareness parents can potentially enhance and enrich the way they react and interact with their children. Second, within the conscious parenting framework parents incorporate a set of specific parenting skills and tools [see next section]. Last, a particular advantage of being a conscious parent is that it affords parents more choice and flexibility.
Skills and Strategies in the Conscious Parenting model:
Skills in the conscious parenting model include: genuine and active listening to and acknowledging your child’s feelings, thoughts, and experience; thinking systems [being aware of the parent-child dance]; being on the same team as your child; describing your child’s present behavior; and expressing your feelings.
In the conscious parenting ongoing parent group the above and additional skills and strategies are introduced, discussed, and practiced.