Kay & Mike (Parents)

Parents desiring more balance, fun, and growth for the entire family.

Wife and husband, Kay and Mike, came to me when there two children were in fourth and first grades. They came seeking help and support around their oldest child, a daughter, who was struggling socially and with school work but no one could quite put their finger on it.

I met with her and discovered that while there were not necessarily any learning difficulties, there were learning preferences, as well as her being very young for her grade. Mom began advocating for her more at school which helped significantly. I also began working with both parents on building their strength as parents and as a family.

Based on some of the challenging behaviors, they wondered if they were failing as parents. We begin a process of creating a bigger, long-term vision for their family which helped them to feel anchored in the difficult moments and to choose their battles better.

I also helped them to identify that their children needed more support and structure from them as parents. I worked with this family over the next five years and still work with them to this day.

Early on in our work, I noticed that their daughter in particular wanted more playful time and attention especially with her mother. This mom was a full-time career woman with a demanding job. I helped her to see that time with a babysitter did not substitute for time with mom. She greatly appreciated this and over the course of four years she did what she could to adjust her work schedule and her career to be more available to her children and to have time for more fun with them.

About four years into our working together she took a leave from her career and it ended up being one of the absolutely best decisions that she ever made. She then spent several months being a full-time mom before stepping into a new career position that was much more family friendly.

As a family, they still have their difficult moments, as any family does, and I'm always on call for them to navigate those difficulties. Even so, they are all thriving. My commitment to them is to always hold space for whatever their needs are in that moment.

I am available to both parents regarding parenting struggles, as well as navigating school, academic, and social arenas. I am available to support Mom with her own frustrations in her personal life, with relationships, and with work. Together, we navigated decisions about schooling and extracurricular activities, and whether to continue them or not.

This family is a great example of how I adapt and adjust to assist and support the entire family unit from a variety of perspectives–from parenting and education, to how children are doing as students, and how parents are navigating their own personal journey.