8 Things That May Cause Your Kids To Need Therapy
By Debbie Godfrey
A common fear many parents have is that you will do something that will cause your kids to need therapy in the future. I know when I was raising my kids, I used to say to myself, "I just want to parent in a way that my kids don't need to go to counseling when they grow up". And, while I don't have anything against counseling, in fact, I strongly suggest counseling to many parents and for many kids:
I did not want to be the CAUSE of my kids needing therapy.
Here are some common mistakes parents make that kids can "misinterpret" in a way that damages their self-esteem and causes emotional/social problems later on:
- Yelling at them
- Spanking in anger
- Not valuing them (in the way a child feels valued)
- Comparing to others, including siblings
- Not allowing kids to be kids
- Allowing children to be disrespectful to parents and others
- Not setting good limits (and following through)
- Not understanding how a child thinks and why they act the way they do
I'm sure there are more, but these are some of the most common. The upcoming Positive Parenting Teleclass is designed to help you parent in a way that builds your child self-esteem, while at the same time causing them to be respectful and responsible.
Do you want this?
- Do you want to know that you are doing everything in your power to be a good enough parent?
- Do you want simple tools that get your kids to behave better and are FUN?
- Do you want to feel like your are doing a GREAT job as a mom? (or dad!)
- Do you want to have a class and an instructor (me!) that cares deeply about you, your children and your family?
Then register now for the next free Positive Parenting Teleclass about Power Struggles and learn how to sign up for the class. For the cost of about 4 counseling sessions, you could prevent years of counseling in the future.
Are your kids worth it?
Mine were, I think yours are too. Join me on this journey and learn the tools to be the fantastic parent you always wanted to be.
Great article! I particularly agree with not letting children be disrespectful and not following through with limits.
Parenting classes online are definitely a good strategy for preventing these types of problems, like suggested in your article.
Will this be a good fit for me, my son is 17 yrs. old and he’s in senior year will hopefully graduate this coming June, but I been having issues with him following through with his homework, and he’s failing 2 classes Math and Social Studies, I have tried everything from reminding him of his homework, taking away TV in his room and also basketball practice, he stays up until very late on the phone with his girlfriend, and then complaints he’s tired, when I confront him he denies staying up late. Today I was talking to his social study teacher, because he did not turn in a homework that is worth 40 points, and he missed 2 others totaling 65 points. What can I do? He has a trip from this classroom and I told him he was not going, because of missing homework.
Mildred,
I can help you with your son, either through my class or private coaching. I would not take his field trip away as consequences, but I would try to pick my battles wisely and with a minimum of power struggles. If you take my class, you will get many ideas and new things to try. I also provide private coaching for $125/hour. I can help you figure out the best strategy to make sure he graduates (if that is your highest priority goal).
Please let me know how I can best serve you, and feel free to call me if you have any more questions about the services I provide.
Thank you for contacting me,
Deb
Spanking at all is not ok. Premeditated violence is probably worse than violence due to passion of the moment. (It’s all bad, but that is more disturbing.) Anything causing disconnect in the relationship is damaging. All violence falls under that category.