Grace McDonald Counselling

01/18/2024

register now for our next one!

12/12/2023

You will become more informed and more equipped on meeting your child's needs at every stage.

Register now, link in bio.

11/08/2023

Next meeting December 6th

Our parent consultation group explores specific topics, current research and tools, and general questions & answers. All parents are welcome to join, and we encourage the additional attendance of our parenting workshop. We are of the belief that ongoing support grows parents into who they want to be..

Grace & Mindy are Certified Advanced Imago Clinicians and Imago Parenting Presenters. They both work in private practice and help couples and parents have more connected relationships. As supportive parent consultants, their primary
goal is to provide a safe environment for learning, in the service of
personal growth and the expansion of parenting skills. Each group meeting, every parent will have the opportunity to share their experiences AND listen and learn from other parents in the group.

Register now to save your spot, link in bio. Please share with other parents!

Be a good enough parent: more informed, more equipped, and less reactive.

11/08/2023

Our parent consultation group explores specific topics, current research and tools, and general questions & answers. All parents are welcome to join, and we encourage the additional attendance of our parenting workshop. We are of the belief that ongoing support grows parents into who they want to be..

Grace & Mindy are Certified Advanced Imago Clinicians and Imago Parenting Presenters. They both work in private practice and help couples and parents have more connected relationships. As supportive parent consultants, their primary
goal is to provide a safe environment for learning, in the service of personal growth and the expansion of parenting skills. Each group meeting, every parent will have the opportunity to share their experiences AND listen and learn from other parents in the group.

Register now to save your spot, link in bio. Please share with other parents!

Be a good enough parent: more informed, more equipped, and less reactive.

10/13/2023

10/11/2023

This a parenting principle that we will explore at the workshop. Taking time to deeply reflect on all your stuff helps you to be your best self as a parent. The more aware you are of how your past influences your present parenting, the more intentional you can be with you kids.

10/06/2023

Save your spot for the upcoming parenting workshop!

09/27/2023

Register for the upcoming parenting workshop, link in bio.

09/16/2023

Do you want to...

* Feel more connected to your kids?
* Communicate and set limits with confidence?
* Raise your kids to become competent, resilient adults?

Save your spot now to register for
Connected Parents, Thriving Kids!

Connected Parents, Thriving Kids (CPTK) is a Parenting Program that uses Imago Relationship Therapy and the latest research on neuroscience and child development. The program emphasizes that a connected parent-child relationship leads to the child’s ability to have healthy adult relationships.

CPTK Parents will learn the following:

· Use effective communication tools to facilitate deep listening.

· Validate your child’s experience to support self-efficacy.

· Empathize with your child’s feelings to support emotional development.

· Set limits to support cooperation and resilience.

· Be aware of how your own childhood influences your current parenting.

· Understand how reactivity leads to disconnection with your children.

· Stay grounded and respond to your child's needs.

Aim to be a good enough parent:
more informed, more equipped, and less reactive

03/20/2023

Imago Parenting Principle #4

Understanding your child's perspective is vital.

Parent validation supports the child's development of a strong sense of self. When parents validate their child's perspective, the child believes that what they think, feel, and experience makes sense and is important.

On the other hand, when a parent dismisses, argues, or minimizes their child, (which a lot of us are not realizing our impact) the potential wounding is the child feels crazy, insecure, and/or alone.

A strong sense of self is especially important when the child's perspective is different from someone else's. A parent's consistent validation helps the child maintain their sense of self with other people, where they don't get easily thrown off, feel diminished, or give up who they are.

A strong sense of self helps children to trust their internal experience when something happens or in making decisions. Trusting their internal experience and feeling confident to make their own decisions will greatly benefit them throughout their life. They will be more likely to listen to themselves about what they want to do, how they want to respond, and what decision is in their best interest. They will also be better able to validate themselves without needing external validation. A child's ability to self-validate helps them in making decisions that lead to their own happiness, purpose, and well-being. It also helps them in situations that are dangerous, unhealthy, and dealing with peer pressure.

You will learn how to provide consistent validation to your child at my parenting workshop! Register now, link in bio.

03/16/2023

Imago Parenting Principle #3

Children have different needs at different stages of development.

When parents educate themselves on children's development needs, they can have realistic expectations of their children, and understand how they can best respond to meet their children's needs.

For example, my son, Theo, is 6 years old, and in the stage of competence (age 4-7).
His task is to develop motor and problem solving skills by trial and error.
His need is to have opportunities to engage in appropriate motor and problem solving activities.
As his parent, my job is to provide opportunities and appropriate support for trying and failing, and trying again, support for his accomplishments, and guidance for his next level of achievement.

When a child does not successfully move through a developmental stage, they can struggle with that stages' need and skill-set throughout the rest of their life. Right now, his wounding potential are feelings of inadequacy, feeling "needless" or "wantless", and his possible adaptations are to over-achieve, be highly competitive, or opt out of things.

If I do my best to support his needs, a healthy outcome for him is to feel confident in his ability to achieve, be aware of his limitations, and recognize others as resources. He will develop his own sense of competence and self-reliance. He will believe in his ability to achieve, retain his eagerness to try, while also developing a realistic sense of his limitations.

Picture your own child, at this stage, learning to tie his shoes, trying over and over again, and then finally tying them, beaming with pride, and saying to you "look what I did!"
What feelings come up for you?
What did you experience when you were this age?
Were you able to show your parents your accomplishments?
How do you respond when you see your child striving to accomplish something independently?

You will become more informed and more equipped on meeting your child's needs at every stage at my parenting workshop! Register now, link in bio.

03/15/2023

Imago Parenting Principle #2

All children need support, safety, and structure.

Children need to feel that parents are available when they need them.
Children need help, guidance, and healthy role modeling, so they can grow to be competent adults.
Children's developing nervous systems need to sense safety in their home environment.
When children feel safe, they are able to have healthy relationships, learn important information, and excel in life.
Children need parents to set clear limits AND stay in loving connection. A firm fence gives children the freedom to be creative and feel safe.
Children need to have a sense of where the edge is, and protection from falling off the edge. Children's creativity is stifled when their freedom is too limited. And, if there is no fence, they can feel scared to move.

You will learn how to provide support, safety, and structure at my parenting workshop! Register now, link in bio.

03/14/2023

Imago Parenting Principle #1

Children do best when their emotional needs are met.

When they feel heard and understood, they know they are important and they make sense.
When they experience empathy, they know their feelings matter and develop their emotional intelligence.
When they have a parent who can meet their emotional needs, they can move through their emotions in a healthy way, calm down and come back to themselves.
When children feel safe, they can connect with themselves, other people, and the world around them.

Save your spot for my upcoming parenting workshop!

Link in bio

02/21/2023

Do you want to...

* Feel more connected to your kids?

* Communicate and set limits with confidence?

* Raise your kids to become competent, resilient adults?

Save your spot now and register,
using the link in my bio, for
Connected Parents, Thriving Kids!

CPTK is a Parenting Program that uses Imago Relationship Therapy and the latest research on neuroscience and child development. The program emphasizes that a connected parent-child relationship leads to the child’s ability to have healthy adult relationships.

CPTK Parents will learn the following:

Use effective communication tools to facilitate deep listening.

Validate your child’s reality to support their developing self-confidence.

Empathise with your child’s feelings to support emotional development.

Set limits to support cooperation and foster resilience.

Be aware of how your own childhood influences your current parenting.

Understand how reactivity leads to disconnection with your children.

Learn how to repair ruptures.

Stay grounded and respond to your child's needs.

Aim to be a good enough parent:
more informed, more equipped, and less reactive

11/04/2022

We love our partners.
We love our children.
We love our parents.
We love our siblings.
AND
They all trigger us the most!
It's important that when we are reactive, we are mindful to not hurt the ones we love with our words. Have some short, go-to phrases in your tool box for those hard moments.