Category: Counselling Parents and Teenagers

Stress and Emotional Wellbeing For Parents, Educators and Practitioners Who Work With Children

YOU CHERISH THE TIME YOU SPEND LOOKING AFTER CHILDREN.
THE QUESTION IS : WHO IS LOOKING AFTER YOU?

Core Development offers the following to Parents, Educators, and Practitioners who work with children:

  • Counselling and Psychotherapy (Core Development method)
  • Individual sessions (also available by phone)
  • Couples sessions
  • Sessions for parents and teenagers (together or separately)
  • In-house workshops tailored for your team or organisation
  • Public workshops and Talks

YOUR NEEDS MATTER

If you parent or work with children, it is likely you are always thinking of others. In doing so, you may be neglecting your own needs.

To be a better carer, it is important to take care of yourself.

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Exploring Relationships

Individual Sessions, Couples Sessions, Talks and Workshops with Donald Marmara

Core Development offers:

  • Individual Counselling and Psychotherapy( face-to-face and phone)
  • Somatic Psychotherapy
  • Counselling and Psychotherapy for Parents and Teenagers(together and separately)
  • Couples Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • Talks and workshops for groups and organisations

The artist Chuck Close once said:  “You can give the same recipe to 10 cooks. Some make it come alive, and some make a flat soufflé. A system doesn’t guarantee anything.”

The same applies to relationships. Hundreds of books tell you what to do and not do to make your relationships work. Numerous workshops claim to give you the “secrets” to success.

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Restoring Our Capacity To Give and Receive Love

This is what my work in emotional learning – including somatic psychotherapy and counselling – is about. Restoring our capacity to give and receive love.

As a society, and indeed as a human race, we have moved so far away from our true nature, from what we know in our hearts – ie that our true nature is loving, cooperative and compassionate – that we we have come to believe that human nature is destructive.

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Does Behaviour Management Really Work?

We all need support in getting our needs met. When a child’s behaviour does not meet our expectations, is it helpful to use Behaviour Management Techniques?

Behaviours have a cause and a purpose. When a child behaves in ways that we consider bad or unacceptable, we may resort to behaviour management techniques to change the child’s behaviour.

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Listening To Your Teenager

A girl was sitting on her own in the school playground. I walked up to her and said “Are you OK? You look sad”.

She replied “It’s my birthday tomorrow”.

“Why does that make you sad?” I asked

”I’m getting a bicycle”

“Don’t you want a bicycle?”

“No I don’t want a bicycle. I want my dad to spend the day with me”   

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Talking to Your Teenager

Talking to your teenager is one of life’s big challenges, requiring flexibility, creative thought and a willingness to enter into their world.

The aim is to give your teenager food for thought, rather than just dispensing advice, or reading them the riot act.

For communication to be meaningful, it involves genuine listening to what your teen is telling you. There’s a difference between listening to understand what they feel, and giving the appearance of listening when you’ve already made up your mind about what they should be doing.

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Youth suicide: Students counselled after Sydney primary school girl, 10, takes her own life

(Reported in The Sunday Telegraph ,December 07, 2014)

We continue to treat this as if it were an individual problem, as if there’s something wrong with the children and adults who harm themselves, or who are anxious or depressed.

When will we wake up from our illusion of separation, and acknowledge that this is our problem as a society and indeed as a human race?

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Please Do Not Confuse Performance With Self-Esteem!

Whilst this article was written initially for students sitting exams and their parents, the same principles apply to us all.

If you are a student, please remember that, whilst exam results are very important and getting the results you want will make a difference , your value as a human being is neither increased nor diminished by your performance.

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Parents – How To Be More Effective In Helping Your Children

You can reduce the stress you have as a parent when your children are having difficulties . This will also make you  more effective in helping them.

Parents who come to see me with concerns about their children sometimes feel guilty, confused or inadequate. These feelings can sometimes be reinforced by conflicting expert opinions and advice.

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Children

“The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself” Lao Tsu

Sometimes adults impose their opinions and desires on children without really listening to them. They usually do this with the best of intentions, in the sincere belief that this is best for their children.

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