By Debbie Cheng, AMFT
We’re rushing to get stuff done, as usual. Suddenly we hear yelling from the other room where our children were laughing and playing just minutes ago. We run over to see yet another full-fledged battle going on. Can’t these kids get along for five minutes?
Then…we’re not proud of these moments…we start screaming and threatening and throwing out dire punishments. What just happened? We ended up joining our children in their escalation and now all of us are ramped up. Again!
As a parent myself and now an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, I’ve been there. And I know it’s possible for parents and children to work together to avoid these unpleasant situations.
At Child and Family Counseling Group (CFCG), we are excited to offer a Summer Intensive program where parents and their children 5-10 years old will learn to co-regulate and de-escalate as a team. With the guidance of a therapist through art and play-based therapy, children will learn to notice changes in their body, to identify and name feelings and to learn coping skills to replace existing maladaptive behaviors. Parents too will learn and practice to step back and self-regulate before responding calmly and thoughtfully. Together, families can learn new strategies to decrease sibling battles and tantrums and to de-escalate them when they do show up.
The program will run mid-June to mid-August, with four individual sessions with the children and two parent sessions pre and post-program, for a total of six sessions. We will conduct an intake at no charge to determine eligibility for the program. Sessions will be held by arrangement on Mondays and Thursdays at our office in San Jose at a discounted rate of $200/session. To sign up, call us at (408) 351-1044, ext. 1, and ask for the Summer Intensive with Debbie Cheng.