Many may seek advice on what makes a good parent. Parenting can be rewarding and challenging at the same time, and parents may feel overwhelmed, confused, or frustrated when raising their children.
Parenting does not mean simply conceiving and giving birth to a child and raising them.
It means taking care of their physical needs, such as food and nutrition, shelter and clothing, and formal education, and fostering them emotionally to become mentally strong people of the future. It is much more than creating lifelong memories for you and your kids.
It includes inculcating human values, teaching them the scientific and rational approach to the aspects of life and their surrounding, making them curious and giving them answers appropriate to their age, playing with them, listening to them, and spending time with them.
Almost every parent receives countless suggestions on how to raise their children. Suggestions cover every aspect of parenting, from health and safety to dietary and sleeping requirements, from children’s education and learning to how much and with whom they should play. Very few include emotional and behavioural elements in their suggestion basket.
Professional parent counselling can be one way parents seek help for themselves and their children. It can address concerns like child development, parent separation or divorce that has an impact on their child and themselves, mental health issues, substance abuse, domestic violence, and more.
In my experience as a psychologist and as a school counsellor, I have seen many cases that directly concern parents. Still, the limitation is that the busy schedules of the parents and the time limitations inside school schedules do not allow sufficient time to address the issues.
I recommend that all parents concerned about their children must be accountable for the urgency of understanding the importance of parent counselling so that parents can guide their children and help themselves with parenting ideas and techniques.
Parent counselling may take time. Parents may feel overwhelmed by conflict when they begin parent counselling. They may need to hear suggestions a few times and consider what they have learned in parent counselling before successfully implementing their new skills. Here are four things parents should consider to understand parent counselling services:
1. Understanding counselling: Counseling history can be traced back to tribal times when people would come together and share their experiences and sometimes their dreams. As civilization developed, precisely, “counselling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.”
2. Unleashing parenting potential: Parent counselling is a service that aims to provide the necessary knowledge, tools, guidance, and, most significantly, support to parents without bias or judgment. This way, they become more fully equipped to care for their children. At the same time, professional counsellors can help parents by examining psychological tests like personality tests, psychological assessments, and psychological assessment tools designed to evaluate various aspects of parenting, including parenting styles, stress levels, and parent-child relationships.
3. Early intervention: By recognising potential issues early on, parents can address challenges before they escalate into more significant problems.
4. Enhanced self-awareness: Parents gain insights into their behaviours and thought patterns, allowing them to make conscious choices to measure emotional intelligence and self-awareness in parenting.
It is important to note that psychological assessments are not about judging parenting abilities but providing valuable information to support parents in their journey. When used appropriately and in conjunction with professional guidance, these tools can be powerful aids in promoting positive parenting and healthy child development.
Aside from the practical challenges, parenthood also presents the potential for damage to our closest relationship. Whether you are a new parent or have years of experience, parent counselling provides valuable insights to help you navigate the complexities of raising children in today’s world. Counselling for parents focuses on helping you better understand your relationship dynamic, the changes that naturally occur in parenthood, and how best to manage them.
