Introduction:
 
As you very well know, parenting is HARD.  The experience of being a parent will test every part of you.  You may wake up with every intention to have a smooth and positive day with your child/children.  Before you know it, they are pushing every button you have - and its working.  You find yourself repeating commands to your child over and over and he/she just will not listen.  You may make threats to remove a privilege that you know you won't follow through with but you are so frustrated and you feel like the threat is the only thing that might actually get them to listen to you.  You finally lose your patience and end up yelling or saying and doing things that you regret.  By the end of it all, you are exhausted.  You may not even remember how the whole thing started.  Maybe you still feel angry, maybe you feel guilty for losing your temper, maybe you feel hopeless and discouraged.  You wake up the next day, with every intention to have a better and more positive day with you child/children... but its the same day all over again.

To complicate matters even more, perhaps you and your partner have very different parenting styles.  You might disagree on how to respond to the behaviors in your child.  This leads to even more conflict and tension in your home.  To solve this problem perhaps you have sought out and studied parenting books.  And yet... here you are.  
 
Stop being so hard on yourself.  Parenting doesn't come with a manual and every child is incredibly unique in the way that they learn and by what motivates them.  You do not have to be alone in these struggles.  I will help you build upon the great strengths that you already have as a parent and teach you new skills that will increase your effectiveness.  Unlike any book that you might read, I will walk you through step-by-step; answer your all of your questions; help you tailor the skills to the unique needs of your child and family and provide some level of accountability for following through with doing the things that will lead to more peace and happiness in your family.

About parent training:

I have worked with hundreds of parents.  Working with parents is my specialization and one of my greatest passions in my work as a therapist.  Based on 30+ years of research done by Dr. Russell A. Barkley and intertwined with my own knowledge derived from my 15+ years of working with parents and children, I teach parents a structured, step-by-step approach to managing their child's difficult behaviors.  This is not a basic parent training, but rather an intensive program for parents of children ages approximately 4-12 years experiencing mild to severe behavioral challenges.  

Topics will include:

•Why children misbehave

•Finding motivation and hope for change

•Re-building and strengthening the parent-child relationship

•Increasing compliance with requests

•Developing a behavior modification system that works

•Time-out and other effective consequence methods

•Improving school behavior from home

•Managing children in public places

What to expect:

It takes approximately 6-8 hours to complete this training program for parents.  We can discuss your unique scheduling needs and come up with a plan that works for you.  After completing the program, you will have the knowledge and skills that you need to respond effectively to the most challenging behaviors that you see in your child. Through the use of positive attention and reward; clear expectations; and swift, fair consequences you will be able to break the cycle of defiance and power struggles that perhaps, you have been experiencing with your child for years. As a result, the relationship you have with your child will be more positive and stronger and you will experience increased family harmony in your home.

Testimonials from parents who have completed parent training with Carissa:
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• “I had given up hope, but this training helped me realize that things really can get better.”

• “This program was more helpful than I ever imagined. I was rather skeptical initially, but I felt more comfortable and motivated after the very first day.”

• “I regret not taking this class sooner. All of the tools I learned in this class made such an improvement in our lives at home with our children. I would recommend this program to any parent.”
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