"One day, the mountain that is in front of you will be so far behind you, it will barely be visible in the distance. But the person you become in learning to get over it? That will stay with you forever... and that is the point of the mountain" "

- Brianna Wiest

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Parenting is, with out a doubt, the hardest role we take on as adults, and a role in which there is no handbook to guide us through what to do when things aren't going the way we wished they would. We aren't pre-trained how to handle or manage every challenge or struggle that arises with our children yet we are responsible for our children to help them to develop, grow and thrive. That's a lot of pressure hey!

 

Because there is no handbook, as parents, we often draw on our own instincts which have been developed through our own past experiences, our values and beliefs and our personality. At Power of Play Counselling, we believe that all individuals have what it takes to raise healthy, successful and thriving children but recognise that there are various factors that can make it extremely difficult to parent the way we want to at times. 

 

In parent consultation sessions, the therapist works with the parent/s to explore the context in which these challenging experiences arise, and explore different ways to approach situations. They aim to assist parents by helping them to understand what may be going on for their child by stepping into the shoes of the child and exploring the situation through the child's lens. Simultaneously, the therapist works with the parent/s on exploring what is happening for them personally, in those moments with the child. Through this deep exploration, the therapist aims to work with the parent to explore new ways of approaching these challenges in ways that are helpful to both the parent and the child. The therapist is able to provide psycho-education to parents to increase their understanding of emotions and behaviour, neuroscience and the nervous system, attachment, trauma impact and neurodiversity.

 

These sessions are less focused on providing "strategies" but rather focus on understanding the barriers that are impacting the relationship between the parent/s and child and adjusting the approach that is being taken to meet the needs of both the parent and the child. In doing so, the aim is that parents feel more confident and capable in their ability to navigate the challenges in a way that is empowering for both the parent and the child. Strategies presume a 'one size fits all' and without understanding the uniqueness of your child, your family and your context, strategies will ultimately fall short. Thus, at Power of Play Counselling, we believe it is more beneficial, to really delve deep into understanding the underlying factors that are driving the challenges. This can be better understood through the metaphor of the iceberg which has been beautifully portrayed in the image below by Juliet Young. 

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Challenging behaviours are often the things the drive parents to seeking therapy for their child or for themselves. These are often the things we can see - like the top of the iceberg. But here's the catch. What is on top of the surface (external factors such as behaviour) is being pushed up, exposed and supported by a whole lot of variables that remain under the surface that we cannot see (internal factors) and the context/ environment. 

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Above the surface, are 'symptoms' of the driving forces that lay beneath the surface. When we focus on strategies - often we make the mistake of trying to 'treat' the factors we can see above the surface, but we forge to look underneath and ask, why is this behaviour showing now? What is underneath this behaviour? What is this behaviour telling us about this person's needs? 

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When we begin to look underneath the surface, and working with the driving forces of behaviour we are then working towards facilitating long lasting change and growth. That is not to say strategies do not have a place and a purpose - they do. But we cannot assume a 'strategy' is going to fix the problem on its own. Think of strategies as a bandage. A bandage is often used, while the wound is healing - but often we need 

to attend to the wound before we put on a bandage. Clean it up, disinfect it, care for it. We don't just slap a bandage on over a wound filled with grit and dirt and expect it to heal. We must always look at treating the wound first, if we want to bandage to work. 

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COST: 

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Private Clients: $150.00 per hour

NDIS Clients: $193.99 per hour

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