In my many years of working with parents of children from pre-birth through adolescence, I have noticed that no matter how many excellent tools I give the most well-intentioned parents, most of them revert to old patterns of interacting with their children whenever there is stress.   Parents and counselors alike can get discouraged.

Why is this?  Brain research tells us that in our own childhoods, we develop engrained relational patterns based on how our parents relate to us.  For example, if we had an angry or violent parent, then we are more apt to have that same reaction to the natural frustration of raising children.  There are literally two pathways in the brain - one that can speed us toward old ways of reacting and another that can give us enough time to make a flexible decision about how we connect.  Our parenting classes and consultations are all about strengthening this second pathway.

Thanks to this new awareness, I will work with you to change your deep mental models so you develop a greater capacity for empathy, a better ability to connect with your children through all their moods and developmental stages, as well as improve your capacity to pause before reacting in old and hurtful ways.  Better behavior will follow as a matter of course. You will find that these changes are much more stress-resistant because we have literally rewired your brain together. 

 Cindy Cook

"In the absence of reflection, history often repeats itself, and parents are vulnerable to passing on to their children unhealthy patterns from the past.  Understanding our lives can free us from the otherwise almost predictable situation in which we recreate the damage to our children that was done to us in our childhoods."

        Daniel J. Siegel & Mary Hartzell

               Parenting from the Inside Out
 

To schedule a parenting appointment, premarital counseling, or a series of training classes on the neurobiology of attachment for your preschool, contact Cindy at

        cindy@brainwisetherapist.com

        360.391.7549