We are beginning a parenting group in Dallas this winter!  We are so excited about offering this opportunity for moms to connect and learn specific skills to help with the joys and aches of parenting. Email us at info@newleafclinic.com for more information.

 As we began the planning process, we liked the name Guilt Free Parenting.  While the group itself follows a model technically called Child Parent Relationship Training, we wanted a more casual appeal.  We are seeking to reach moms who want to feel more empowered and rejuvenated in their relationship with their children.

When I think of parenting, I think of a diet.  You may laugh and think to yourself, ”wonder if she’s like me finishing the food on my child’s plate or eating things like mac and cheese and fish sticks that without kids I would never eat.” And yes, those thoughts certainly do enter my mind- yet this reference is on a deeper more emotional level. I know enough about dieting to know about falling off the wagon.  Trying so hard at something and being so strict and rigid that you fail.  In working with parents, I have heard similar stories. “I read this (fill in the blank with the titles you’ve flipped through) book and tried all the suggestions and it worked for a while, but  it stopped working, it was too hard, or I couldn’t get my spouse on board. So parenting, like dieting takes committment and consistency. 

Well, what do you do when you eat poorly one day?  Are you the give it all up type or the ‘tomorrow is another day’ type? 

Parenting is all about fresh starts.  You and your child get one every single day. Even more profoundly, every single encounter each day.  Sure there is carryover and foundations are laid, but change is possible.  A favorite professor of mine, and world renowned play therapist, Dr. Garry Landreth, puts it this way, “It’s not what you did, but what you do after what you have done”.  That concept isn’t just for me, it isn’t just for grown-ups.  It is something I want to teach my child, something about forgiveness and open communication. So, when I respond to my daughter in a way that does not communicate my love and respect for her, I think about that phrase.  I think about how I can teach her that I make mistakes and it is okay to say so and that I respect her enough to ask for her forgiveness. 

So, our group is about implementing strategies that lead you to feel guilt free.  Lead you to be able to move past the guilt you feel for disciplinging your child more harshly than you intended, for threating to take away all their toys forever, or for spanking them when you swore pre-parenthood you would never. 

Join us, Mondays 10:00-11:30 beginning February 8th in North Dallas- Frankford and the North Dallas Tollway.