Question 1

What is Empowered Parenting and why is it a useful approach?

Accepted Answer

What is Empowered Parenting?
Empowered Parenting is an approach where parents create a safe and nurturing environment for children to grow and thrive. It's rooted in science, and with the knowledge that parents can raise their children without fear, punishment, or coercion.

Empowered parenting leads to a regulated nervous system - for both parents and children.  Regulation leads to connected relationships and great benefits for our children.
Children parented this way grow up to:
Have more trust in themselves and other people
Demonstrate increased self esteem and self confidence
Advocate for their needs
Respect themselves and others 
Have higher emotional intelligence
Think critically and with curiosity
Build healthy relationships with others

How does Empowered Parenting Work?
Empowered Parenting is backed by the latest research in brain development, attachment theory, nervous system science, and communication.  
Empowered Parenting works by promoting cooperation, communication, and mutual respect through positive discipline and creating an environment of curiosity that allows children to safely reflect on their experiences and learn from them. 
Empowered parenting also recognizes the importance of parents taking care of their own needs.  This is rooted in the science of nervous system regulation. When parents regulate themselves, they can be more present and effective for their children.

Question 2

What topics are covered in our empowered parenting coaching?

Accepted Answer

Values -
Values -are the foundation on which we build our lives. Values are what we think is important for us to teach our child.

Power Dynamics - Power Dynamics are often rooted in fears and limiting beliefs. It’s these beliefs that infuse our default patterns to either power over our children, or move into power under (soft, inconsistent or no boundaries).

Nervous System - The nervous system is a communication system throughout the body.  Our bodies and brains are consistently receiving and translating cues of either safety or danger in our internal and external environments. This happens often without our awareness. Our level of nervous system activation influences how we communicate with and react to our children.

Expectations/Development- Child development has a predictable process. Knowing where your child is developmentally can inform your expectations. Some children excel in some areas and are slower to develop in other areas (like intellectually vs socially). Many parents have strong ideas about how their child should behave based on assumptions about development and how quickly they should learn.

Communication 
Being free to express ourselves is a fundamental human need. Communication involves listening and speaking. The vast majority of communication is non-verbal, involving facial expression, tone of voice and body language. Different minds think differently.

Boundaries- Boundaries are the limits that people set for themselves and others. They can be physical, verbal, or intellectual. Boundaries are rooted in safety, respect, reasonable expectations, acknowledgement of needs. Children learn not only from boundaries (limits and consequences) but also from HOW WE SET those limits/consequences. We model what we want to see.

Anger-Anger is one of our six primal emotions (sorrow or grief, joy, fear, surprise, and disgust are the others). We tend to attach negative beliefs and traits to anger. Anger and stress often feed each other. We learn about anger from how others around us handle it.

Play -Our brains grow in an environment of curiosity and wonder. Play is a child’s job! Most children learn best through play. There are many different types of play styles. Play is also an attitude, involving emotional flexibility and light heartedness. Laughter relieves stress.

Question 3

Will this change my child’s behavior?

Accepted Answer

Because families are a system, often when one person shifts or changes others do as well (think of a mobile that hangs from the ceiling). Since your child anchors themselves in you, their parent, and models their behavior from you the parent, when you change, it invites change in your child too.

While we need to account for a child’s temperament, neurology and lived experience, the parent is one of the most powerful conduits to change in a child- and the child’s most consistent teacher.

Question 4

Will there be homework?

Accepted Answer

Reflection on the material is one of the fastest ways to make change. There are reading materials, videos and handouts with opportunities for you to apply the content to your daily life. And, we practice the tools in session.

Question 5

What training do the coaches have?

Accepted Answer

All of our coaches are Certified Parent Coaches through the Jai Institute for Parenting. This is an extensive training consisting of over 6 months of curriculum learning and coaching practice. Each of our coaches also holds a degree in a related field such as occupational therapy, school psychology or counseling and brings lived experience as a parent to their role.

Question 6

How long will it take to see improvement in my child?

Accepted Answer

Change can be hard to predict, but we do know that a calm nervous system, and a safe, playful environment can significantly increase learning for everyone! Change invites change. The more you reflect on your own thoughts, feelings and behaviors, the faster awareness changes, and with that, behavior changes.