Colorado Parent Counseling
“The parent-child connection is the most powerful mental health intervention known to mankind.”
You are the parent your child needs. Read that again if you need to, and let it sink in. At the end of the day, this is the belief that we hold for every parent we work with.
We all want to be the best parent to our children. Sometimes that feels easy. Other times if feels impossible.
As a parent, you will go through many ups and downs. The job or raising children is not easy, and you are often left wondering if you are doing it “right.” Parenthood is full of joy and giggles and wonder, but it is also littered with fear and frustration and confusion. Parent counseling can be beneficial for all parents and families. Individual and couples counseling is available in Woodland Park, Colorado Springs, and online throughout Colorado and Missouri.
When it comes to kids, at the end of the day the most important thing is that they feel loved and supported in their home. They also thrive on loose structure, knowing what to expect, and having the opportunity to be themselves. There are a lot of ways to create the connection you want and your kids need, and there is no one “right way” to parent.
Learning how to communicate with your child, set boundaries, and guide behaviors in a way that actually works can relieve a lot of your stress and allow you to feel more confident in your parenting decisions. Parent counseling can help you do that.
Through parent counseling or co-parenting counseling, we can help you learn how to recognize and address the barriers that are keeping you from experiencing more joy within your family. This may mean learning how to establish better boundaries for yourself, manage parental expectations, implement conflict resolution skills, improve communication within your family, navigate difficult child behaviors, support your child when they are suffering, or learn more effective ways to co-parent.
3 top-rated parent counselors in Colorado
1. Paige Lloyd, LPCC, PMH-C
Paige is a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate and Marriage and Family Therapist Candidate in Colorado and California. Paige is also a certified perinatal mental health counselor (PMH-C). She is here to help you in the evolution of becoming the person you want to be. She loves working with parents and couples as they discover their new world and work to balance the demands of everyday life.
Credentials: LPCC, MFTC, PMH-C
Colorado License Number: LPCC.0018129, MFTC.0014116
Paige holds a Master's Degree (MS) in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA.
Paige offers online therapy to clients throughout Colorado.
Providing parent counseling since 2022
Paige utilizes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness techniques in her work.
2. Melanie McQuiston, LPCC
Melanie is a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate in the state of Colorado. She takes a direct and solution-focused approach to helping you move in the direction you want to go. Melanie has a knack for supporting people through difficult life changes and transitions in a way that is both effective and empowering.
Credentials: LPCC
License Number: LPCC.0019310
Melanie holds a Master's Degree (MS) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Oakland University.
Melanie offers online therapy to clients throughout Colorado.
Providing parent counseling since 2022
Melanie utilizes ACT, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and solution-focused therapy in her work.
3. Shaye Meissen, LPC, PMH-C
Shaye is the owner of Exploration Counseling and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Colorado and Missouri. She is a clinical supervisor, and a certified perinatal mental health therapist (PMH-C). She has been working with individuals and families for over 10 years to navigate life's struggles and live more fully. Shaye believes that healthy relationships are the foundation of a beautiful life and she is committed to helping you become the person, partner, and parent you want to be.
Credentials: LPC, PMH-C (Shaye is licensed in both Colorado and Missouri)
Colorado License Number: LPC.0012830
Shaye holds a master's degree (MS) in Clinical Psychology from Missouri State University.
Shaye offers both online therapy and in-person therapy in Colorado Springs.
Providing parent counseling since 2010
Shaye utilizes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), outdoor therapy, and mindfulness skills in her work.
How parent counseling can help
Navigating Difficult Child Behaviors
You are tired of power struggles, arguments, and defiance. You may be having trouble figuring out how to help your child sleep better or help them find more enjoyment in school. Your attempts at managing difficult behaviors are not working and you are left feeling defeated, tired, or even angry. Overwhelmed parents need a healthy way to address personal issues, learn new skills, and effectively address the parent-child conflict.
Working with a trained professional who is knowledgeable in children's development, active listening, improving communication, and positive discipline can be very beneficial.
Counseling can help you learn about parenting styles, improve family relations, feel better about your approach to parenting, and often see behavior change (in your child and yourself) that allows you both to feel more comfortable and connected.
Parenting Support When Your Child is Suffering
One of the most difficult parts of parenthood is seeing your child struggle. If your child is suffering from a physical issue, mental health issues, sickness, or chronic disease then it can be really important to have support around you.
Maybe your child is dealing with a mood concern such as depression or anxiety, or they could be having a hard time with peers or relationships. Maybe they are abusing alcohol or struggling with substance abuse. You want to help your child and create a supportive environment, but sometimes you just might not know how.
Parenting counseling can provide both parenting skills and emotional support, which are both helpful when your child is going through hard stuff.
Working with a therapist can help you address your own thoughts, beliefs, and worries around the problem and can also help you learn to support your child through their pain.
Counseling for Co-Parenting
Consistency between parents is important for kids. They do much better and are more at ease when they know what to expect and know that their parents are on the same page. But each parent brings their own experiences, ideas, personality, and parenting styles to parenting.
If you are not familiar with the four main parenting styles, it can be helpful to understand each and how you and your co-parent show up in parenting. There are authoritative parents, permissive parents, authoritarian parents, and uninvolved parents. Research shows that authoritative parenting is generally the most effective in creating a strong parent-child relationship while maintaining appropriate behaviors and boundaries.
When both parents do not agree on how to communicate within the family or discipline children, you will likely experience conflict and also notice that your kids are noticing the cracks in the family unit.
Many parents learn so much about themselves and their partner (or co-parent) when they spend time learning about each parenting style. Co-parenting counseling can help you align your family values, improve communication, and learn skills to help you work as a parenting team.
If you are a single parent, the role the other parent plays in the life of your child can have a major impact. Individual counseling sessions can support your emotional well-being and also provide valuable education and parenting skills to navigate difficult situations. You can read more about co-parenting interventions and shared physical custody here.
FAQs about parental counseling
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Parent counseling is different from family therapy in that it focuses on one or both parents and not on the family as a whole. Generally, the children are not involved in parent counseling, although at times you and your mental health professional may decide their participation is beneficial.
The belief is that healthy parents can support a healthy family unit (no matter what it looks like), so therapy sessions focus on the individual parents instead of all family members together.
There are a lot of factors that impact how we parent and show up for our children. These could be issues of domestic violence, health problems, financial difficulties, or a mental health condition. It also could be due to different parenting styles, struggles adjusting to being new parents, or difficulty in making a parenting decision.
Parent counseling can be done through individual counseling or co-parent counseling- when both parents are involved whether they are married, separated parents, or divorced parents.
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Most parents want what is best for their children. Parents may just have different ideas of what that means or what each considers appropriate behaviors for each other or their children.
While parent counseling may look different for each family, the overall goal is to provide parents the space to discover parenting values, address parenting issues, consider parenting styles, and develop healthy communication skills to provide the family structure needed to help both parents and children thrive.
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Parenting can put a strain on relationships. Co-parenting therapy is an opportunity for parents to address conflicts that come up around raising children. Some topics parents may want to discuss are a specific parenting style, how to manage conflict within the home, mental health issues, teaching effective life skills, or working through a child health concern. This is not an all-inclusive list and many parenting therapists suggest co-parenting counseling to improve communication and connection so that parents may work together in the best way possible, no matter the status of the parenting relationship.
Get the parenting support you need to help your family thrive.
It doesn't matter if you have an infant, a toddler, or a teen. There is never a bad time to begin parent counseling. Each season of life can come with its own set of struggles. Working with a specialist can help improve your well-being so that you can be the parent your child needs. Our mental health professionals are trained in counseling parents and look forward to working with you. As I mentioned earlier, we believe that you are the parent your child needs and we want to support you in being the parent you want to be. Learn more about our practice by visiting our homepage.
Contact us here to schedule directly online or reach out to see how we can help.
