Parenting Counselling

Seeing a psychologist for parenting coaching or counselling offers distinct advantages due to their specialised training and expertise: 

• Expertise in Child Development: Psychologists are trained across the lifespan and understand how early experiences shape individuals. They tailor approaches based on children's developmental stages and needs. 
• Overall Wellbeing and Mental Health: Psychologists are equipped to manage parenting dilemmas and mental health challenges. They can provide support even without a diagnosis, ensuring the right assistance for you and your family. 
• Assessments and Diagnosis: Psychologists can conduct assessments, diagnose issues, and refer to appropriate services if needed, ensuring tailored support for your family's needs. 
• Evidence-Based Practice: Psychologists adhere to stringent practice requirements, offering interventions backed by evidence and research, ensuring high-quality and effective support. 
• Counselling and Communication Skills: Psychologists possess strong counselling skills, creating positive therapeutic relationships through effective communication, empathy, and collaboration. 
• Ethical Standards: Psychologists adhere to strict ethical and professional boundaries, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, professionalism, and respect for autonomy and best interests.

There is a lot of similarity, and our experienced psychologists offer both parenting counselling and specific child and family psychology sessions. The difference between the two is the focus, scope and approach of the sessions.

• Parenting counselling is more specific, goal oriented and focuses on practical solutions, where the emphasis is on specific concerns, skill building and goal setting. The challenges and goals are focused on specific or situational issues, and are able to be addressed and guided in a shorter timeframe.
• Child or family psychology sessions tend to be more focussed on assessing family dynamics and addressing psychological or emotional issues that are impacting on families. This could involve diagnosis, or assessments, and typically explore patterns or long-standing concerns or more complicated matters relating to mental health and wellbeing. 

During a parenting session, you can expect a supportive and collaborative environment where you'll work with a psychologist to address your parenting concerns and goals. The structure and duration of the session may vary depending on whether it's a shorter 20min session or a standard 50min session: 

Solution-Focused Shorter Session: 

• Efficiently addresses specific parenting challenges or goals. 
• Help with identifying primary concerns and discusses practical strategies or techniques. 
• Involves exploring strengths as a parent and aligning solutions with values and preferences. 
• Strategies to effective implementation within a shorter timeframe. 

Standard Session: 

• Recommended for complex or deeper concerns. 
• Provides more time to delve into underlying factors contributing to parenting challenges. 
• Psychologist may use therapeutic techniques to gain insight into parenting style, communication patterns, and family dynamics. 
• Allows for extensive discussion of experiences, emotions, and concerns, fostering a comprehensive understanding. 
• Involves setting long-term goals, developing personalised parenting plans, and practicing new skills or strategies for sustained positive change. 

Whether you're navigating the early years with an infant or toddler, facing the unique challenges of parenting a school-aged child, or navigating the complexities of adolescence, our psychologists provide personalised support tailored to your parenting needs. From addressing behavioural issues, communication difficulties, and sibling rivalry, to navigating transitions such as starting school or adolescence.