Kathleen Geiger, Med, LPC

03/26/2026

"A child can never be too attached. The more attached, the more nurturance there is for the individuation process and the more room to be one's own person. So the answer to becoming one's own person is not to have to leave the nest, but to be nested."

- Dr. Gordon Neufeld

This quote is from Gordon Neufeld’s course Helping Children Grow Up.

Heather Ferguson and Celena Krahn, both faculty members at the Neufeld Institute, are hosting the upcoming scheduled class of Helping Children Grow Up, the second installment in the Power to Parent series. Together, they’ll explore how to raise children to their full human potential.

Power to Parent II: Helping Children Grow Up

📌 Classes start: March 31, 2026
⌛ Duration: 8 weeks
🗓️ Tuesdays, 10:00–11:00 AM Pacific

Registration details via the link in our bio

About the course:
To “raise” a child literally means to bring them to their full potential. Growing a child up is not something we can do directly, any more than a farmer can actually grow crops. This is the singular work of Nature, which can only make headway when conditions are conducive. Teaming up with Nature is the parent’s ultimate challenge — not trying to do what only Nature can do, not pushing when we should be waiting, nor neglecting to provide what Nature requires to work its “magic.” The most fruitful parenting involves learning to serve as a midwife to the ongoing birthing of the child’s potential. In a nutshell, this is what this course is all about. It typically brings great relief when parents realize that raising a child is not all up to them.

03/06/2026

The typical two- to five-year-old is precocious, brazen, obsessive, endearing, hysterical, impulsive, anxious, delightful, unreflective, dogmatic, generous, unstable, aggressive, resistant, compulsive, and anything but consistent. As such, they could easily qualify for any number of personality and behaviour disorders. The preschooler syndrome is neither inferior nor a failure, however; there is good reason developmentally for starting life with these traits. The only concern exists when they fail to grow out of such manifestations. Dr. Neufeld uses his mastery of developmental science to make sense of young children from inside out, thereby helping adults resist the urge to hurry them out of their rightful immaturity.

To make sense of the preschooler is to make sense of the very essentials of human development. Once the primary principles of development are appreciated together with their purpose, the developmental deficits that plague the preschooler become transparent and understandable. Rather than pushing them to be other than who they are, we can celebrate their differences. Instead of trying to get them to grow up, we can attend to providing the conditions that are conducive to their transformation. Knowing what they need is the key to knowing how to dance with them.

We invite your participation in this Scheduled Class offering of "Making Sense of Preschoolers," where you will gain further insight from Neufeld Institute Faculty members Eva de Gosztonyi and Laina Clugston. They will offer a rich tapestry of unique perspectives, all within the attachment-based developmental approach.

Learn more and register - you'll find the link to this class in our bio

Scheduled Classes combine Dr. Neufeld’s video lectures and supplementary course material with live faculty-facilitated support sessions. These interactive weekly classes are designed to deepen your understanding of Dr. Neufeld's teachings. It is a unique opportunity to join our experienced faculty and other students online to ask questions, discuss key insights, and explore practical applications.

📌 Course Start Date: April 14, 2026
⌛ Duration: 6 weeks
🗓️ Tuesdays 5:30 – 6:30PM PT

All of the classes are recorded. If you miss a class, you can keep pace with the group by viewing the recordings at your own convenience during the week.

03/06/2026

Take a mental health detox….your brain will thank you

Young adults who engaged in a social media “detox” reported reductions in depression, anxiety and insomnia, though it was unclear how long the effects would last.

03/06/2026

01/27/2026

Robyn Goebbel is brilliant!

FINALLY! I'm going live with a webinar that anyone can join!

This is just for YOU! Anyone and everyone can register and there is no charge.

Focus on the Nervous System to Change Behavior is for any adult baffled by a child's behavior- or their own behavior- and overwhelmed that traditional behavior management isn't working.

It's not working NOT because you're a bad parent (or teacher or therapist or whoever you are in the world).

It's not working because you've been given outdated information about what behavior really is.

This webinar will help you see what the real problem is- and it's not your kid's character or your goodness as a parent.

At the end you'll walk away with a paradigm shift. You'll feel inspired to try new strategies to help you and your kid. And you'll have a huge amount of free resources that will help you do exactly that.

I'm teaching the webinar TWICE on February 3, 2026. Hopefully you'll be able to come live to one of them (10am eastern and 8pm eastern) but don't stress if you can't because everyone who registers will get a link to the recording and all the freebie goodies that go along with it.

The URL is on the image and in my bio BUT if you leave me a GIF or emoji that shows me how excited you are for this webinar, I'll respond with the live link.

BONUS POINTS if you share this post so we can spread the neuroscience of behavior to everyone in the world! (There's no bonus points. But wouldn't it be cool if everyone in the world knew this info??? Think about what would change! So! Please share!)

12/31/2025

Women are expected to be nurturers. Firstborns are expected to be exemplars. Being both is exhausting, Sarah Sloat wrote in 2023.⁠
⁠
Online, a contingent of oldest sisters have described the stress of feeling accountable for their family’s happiness, the pressure to succeed, and the impression that they aren’t being cared for in the way they care for others. In many cultures, oldest siblings as well as daughters of all ages tend to face high expectations from family members—so people playing both parts are especially likely to take on a large share of household responsibilities, and might deal with more stress as a result. ⁠
⁠
The caregiving tendency isn’t an inevitable quality of eldest daughters; rather, researchers told Sloat, it tends to be imposed by family members who are part of a society that presumes that eldest daughters should act a certain way. Birth order does not impact your personality, but it can impact how your family views you. Read more: https://theatln.tc/DmSrUWWk

12/29/2025

One of my clients is working on speaking the truth about how she really feels, rather than saying nothing, pretending or fawning. She sent me this - so if you need to say hard things, using this can help in repairing a cycle which has been lifelong.

12/29/2025

Absolutely true. Every addict carries a trauma story

11/03/2025

❤️this!

Here’s your reminder that on Halloween night, you might meet kids like mine. Kids who love Halloween but who can’t say “trick or treat.”
Kids who might not look you in the eyes.
Kids who might not say “thank you.”
Kids who might grab the candy and run, or flap with excitement, or stay tucked close behind their parent.

They’re not being rude. They’re not ungrateful.
They’re just doing their best.

So if you see a child who seems different, smile at them. Drop the candy in the bucket anyway. Include them. That moment of kindness matters more than you know.

Thank you ❤️ 🎃

11/03/2025

It’s been awhile since I’ve looked at Facebook much less posted anything. Scott’s been dealing with a lot of medical issues - currently getting radiation for prostate cancer. He has tolerated
the treatment remarkably well and is as positive as ever. He still has a way to go before he’s back to riding his horse…
And I stopped holding my breath. So it’s been great to get caught up with new discoveries
An interesting articles about mental health… so this article below is really interesting. It was published just today.
Let me know what you think.

A large new study reveals how early relationships with parents and friends influence how we relate to those closest to us in adulthood

10/09/2025

APA panel issues recommendations for adolescent social media use: Helpful to share with parents and caregivers

Calls for social media literacy training, screening for ‘problematic’ online behaviors.