Jennifer Whitfield, LMHC- Hope Health & Healing Counseling Center, LLC

01/06/2024

It is always important to be mindful with social media. Limit it when possible and only follow accounts that serve you. A lot of those "perfect moms" are filtered and fake, and can lead to comparison and increased guilt or envy. YOU are enough and YOU are a great mother. YOU are what your children want and need. ♥️
Reshared from

10/08/2023

05/18/2023

Connection will help calm. We as parents can help model that calm to our kids. If kids (and adults) feel listened to, respected, seen and connected, it is much easier to regulate and calm down. When we shame kids for having big emotions, when we just send them to their room or isolate them, blame them, dismiss and yell etc we are missing the opportunity to connect and teach. All behavior is some sort of communication. There is a reason for the dysregulation. Maybe they are over tired, maybe they are hungry, maybe it's a miscommunication...whatever is upsetting to them may not be a big deal to us, but it's a big deal and a very real experience for them. If we want our kids to calm down and if we want to try and teach a lesson, we need to be calm and regulated first. Our calm will help their calm. Otherwise that lesson we want to teach will be lost. When your child is dysregulated and upset, if we yell or tell them to just calm down, we can flood their brain even more. No, we as parents will not always be in a state to connect and say "all the right things." We won't always be calm ourselves and we will have plenty of moments where we react instead of respond. I certainly make plenty of mistakes with my kids. But connection is key. The repair is key. Our mistakes can still be lessons and we can still engage our children in the process of co-regulation. Connect with them with verbal and non verbal communication. Help sooth, validate and reflect. You have a much better chance of redirecting and calming/soothing your child and engaging them in a valuable teaching moment after you have connected with them and help them calm down. ♥️

Kids are often blamed for being emotionally dysregulated and partly for good reason. While children's brains are developing they physically can't manage big emotions. But so often children are singled out for having emotional melt-downs when parents are completely losing control of their own emotions too. It's easy to blame the child as we as parents can feel justified in losing control because kids can be so frustrating. Lets face it, nobody can push your buttons like your child. The problem is, if we lose control of our emotions when our kids are out of control, then we set up a culture of dysregulation. Emotions feed off emotions, so if we are going to bring calm we need to learn to regulate ourselves.

More information on my blog

https://www.thetherapistparent.com/post/creating-a-self-regulated-family

05/05/2023

May is Maternal Mental Health month!
Perinatal mental health challenges are the #1 complication of pregnancy and childbirth. We have a long way to go in our screening tools for parent's after giving birth. Doctors screen for so many different health issues, but yet we have so many new parents walk out of hospitals and birthing centers, completely unequipped and presenting with PPD or PPA symptoms.
If you or someone you know needs support, Postpartum Support International has a 24/7 hotline and text chat. Hotline # 800-944-4773.
You can also use the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline- 833-943-5746 or
National su***de & Crisis Hotline- 988

But yet we don't screen for this as often or as in depth like other health conditions.

04/19/2023

Classes and information like these below are SO needed and necessary for new expecting parents. Consider checking out the link below. ♥️♥️

Join us for our NEW online Postpartum Planning for Expectant Parents class on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month! There are spots still open in this week's class!

Is your family growing? Would you like some dedicated time to learn and think about your postpartum period? Join us for this 2-hour class for expectant parents (2nd and 3rd trimester). All expectant parents are welcome: moms, birthing people, non-gestational parents, partners, couples, and single parents. If you are expecting a baby soon, we welcome you to join us. We will focus on the parents’ emotional wellbeing during the postpartum period. The class will include education, discussion, review of a postpartum plan, and resources. The main topics covered will be: postpartum physical recovery, partner support, self-care, support networks, lactation and emotional wellbeing, and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. We hope that you will finish the class feeling more confident and knowledgeable about your postpartum experience.

This class is meant as a one-time session, so please only register once. This is a free resource, so we do appreciate it if you cancel your registration at least 24 hours in advance if you cannot attend the class. Then another participant, on the waitlist, may attend. Thank you! We are so glad you are planning for your postpartum period. You are not alone, and we are here to help.

Learn more and register at bit.ly/Postpartum2023 💙

04/15/2023

A beautiful message from Synergetic Play Therapy Institute . ♥️

04/12/2023

Resharing from The Therapist Parent

Connect first and then redirect! ♥️

The only person we can really control is ourselves. We can influence the situation, we can hold boundaries but we can't really control our children's behaviour.

Ultimately parents are trying to do their best to help their children grow and develop into "good" people. Unfortunately we have been brought up in a world where punishment has always been the main way to control behaviour. The problem is that if we really want our kids to develop a moral conscience and take responsibility for their actions, punishment simply doesn't work. We need to discipline our kids in the true sense of the word; teach direct and guide them. We need to work with them and not be an authority to cause fear, but someone that will help them develop to the same moral standard we have.

More information on my blog

https://www.thetherapistparent.com/post/why-punishment-doesn-t-work-and-what-does

04/09/2023

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! Have a beautiful Sunday!

04/07/2023

Such a powerful image. This is why it is so important for parents to do their own work; for themselves and their kids. You CAN be a cycle breaker! ♥️

It’s not easy to be a cycle breaker.

04/06/2023

♥️