Do you ever feel like you don’t know how to Discipline your child, or that you don’t even have a right to discipline? I wonder if at times you’ve felt dis-empowered when it comes to setting boundaries and following up with consequences?
3 reasons you’ve become a dis-empowered parent
- I have to imagine that some of this dis-empowerment comes from newly-coined terms like “free range parenting” which flaunts it’s “limited supervision” parenting, encouraging the independence of your child’s spirit at the expense of your active involvement in his life. Especially In the last 10-15 years there’s been a lot of emphasis on parents being friends with their children, rather than be parents.
- You probably are also feeling the daily onslaught of defiance from your child too. All those “no’s” and defiance is bound to wear you down.
- Maybe you and your spouse/co-parent don’t see eye-to-eye on discipline strategies, or he or she doesn’t back you up when you try to set boundaries with your child.
“Discipline” has become a 4 letter word
Reflect back on the limits that your parents set for you when you were a child. I’m betting a lot has changed between how you were raised and how you feel you can raise your child today!
The feedback I get from the parents I work with is that parents FEAR discipline because they are afraid they are going to damage their children.
This is the farthest from the truth.
There are a few things that can be emotionally damaging like name calling, put-downs, spanking, and corporal punishment.
Barring those things, setting boundaries and following up on consequences is exactly what your child needs.
Discipline, which includes parenting based off of guidance, supervision, and active involvement, decreases defiance, anxiety, and depression, and helps support your child in a more successful strategy than either a punitive or hands off approach.
Bottom line: I’ve dedicated my practice to working not just with children but with parents as well. I help them to be an empowered parent so they can say to their child “I’m going to support you no matter what, and I’m going to do it in a way that’s healthy and good for the both of us and puts you on a right track. That may look like me telling you ‘no’ sometime, and following through with consequences to your actions.”
If what I’ve said today at all resonates with you and you struggle with being an empowered parent, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at 909-232-2935 or click the red “Schedule a Free Consultation” button.
Jenmarie Eadie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who is passionate about helping children to become less stressed by giving them and their parents tools, support and encouragement. She received her Master’s in Social Work from Arizona State with a dual concentration in Children, Youth, and Families; and Behavioral Health. Her proudest accomplishment is following her dream of opening up a practice that is designed to focus on the whole family. She currently serves families in Southern California.
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