Parenting Counseling in Chicago
Meet Our Parenting Counselors
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Caitlin Stumpner, Psy.D.
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Stefani Godina, LCSW
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Andrea Espinosa, LCSW
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Kelli Fitzgerald, LCSW
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Annet Chernyhovsky, PsyD
Wondering what your next steps are as a parent?
Struggling to sort through your child’s behavioral challenge?
Or maybe you just want to work on being a more connected parent?
Perhaps you have differing views of parenting than your partner and are trying to figure out how to navigate the next steps?
Do you want to talk through thoughts and feelings showing up for you in your role as a parent?
Parenting is often one of the most rewarding things we can experience in life, yet also one of the most challenging! It is normal to feel conflicted emotions around your role as a parent. It’s also normal to have doubts about the next steps to take in relating or parenting your child or children. Many parents feel as though they don’t have enough time or resources to take optimal care of themselves and put the needs of their kids first. Our Parenting Counselors at Balanced Awakening have several unique ways of working with moms and co-parents on their parenting, each way paving new pathways to experience more ease and joy in your role as a parent.
Understanding Parenting Dynamics
Parenting often has a lot of emotional and relational layers. Becoming a new parent is a huge transition to make in your relationship with yourself as well as your relationship with a partner, family, friends, and everyone in your social circle. Then, through every stage of your child’s development, there are new “things” that seem to pop up. Your role as a parent is constantly evolving, as children grow at a fast pace. And that’s just if you have one child! You may have multiple children going through multiple phases of growth at the same time. And you likely have your own process and life to attend to, which may involve relationship changes, and tending to your own mental health and self-care.
Parenting dynamics change quite a bit when there is a change in relationship or partnership status for one of both parents of a child. You may find yourself in a situation to end your marriage or partnership and embarking on a new co-parenting journey. This can be a challenging transition to make. We can help you navigate this process in an empowering way that reduces the impact on your child(ren).
The Role of Therapy in Parenting
Therapy for all things parenting can help you be more of the parent that you’d like to be. Or even figure out what your options are for parenting styles and techniques. We only know what we know - or what we’ve experienced or seen before - and this applies to parenting as well. The framework that we have for how to be a parent is often heavily informed by how we were parented when we were a child. As an adult, we may also see how our friends or family members parent their children. Or we may read a book or attend a parenting class to gain skills. Often, though, the strongest model we have comes from what we experienced in our own childhood.
Therapy can help us understand our own models and frameworks of what a parent “should” or “can” be. Parenting counseling can expose our current ideas of parenting as well as introduce us to different options in our parenting that we weren’t aware of before. This opens up a lot of room for choice in how we’d like to show up as a parent today and in future days.
Specific Areas of Support
From birth through adolescence to semi-independent young adult, kids go through rapid growth and transformation. Parents can feel as though as soon as they mastered one stage of their child’s development, things change yet again and it’s hard to keep up. At Balanced Awakening, we have therapists who are knowledgeable about the main themes in development at each age. We can help you understand what your not-yet-verbal young child may be trying to communicate to you in their behavior. We can also help you translate what your teen might need who refuses to talk to you! Parenting therapy can also help you process and navigate all of the feelings that might come up for you in response to your child’s behavioral presentation.
Therapeutic Approaches and Techniques
At Balanced Awakening, we have therapists who are skilled at working with moms of children of all ages in individual therapy around issues of parenting. We also have therapists trained in Imago Relationship Therapy who can see co-parents in any form, and who can even see a parent and older child - or even adult child - to facilitate communication around parenting.
In individual therapy with a mom, each therapist has their own way of working on parenting concerns. Some may pull from psychodynamic origins, exploring with you how your own childhood may be impacting the way you see yourself as a parent today. Psychodynamic oriented therapy can help you break free from any limitations on your views of parenting from your own childhood and empower you to make parenting choices from a wider range of options. Some of our therapists might take a mindful parenting approach. Others may integrate specific strategies and techniques that you could implement to be more of the parent that you want to be.
We also have therapists who have specific training in working with moms from pregnancy through the first year of life. Parenting counseling support at that time may have components of psychoeducation on developmental stages and developmental needs of the baby. It can also support mom in making sure her own needs are met during this highly dynamic and new time.
We’re also happy to work with co-parents, or older family members in dyads, utilizing Imago Relationship Therapy. What we can do is help to facilitate safe communication between co-parents or family members about pretty much any topic around parenting or relationship needs.
Benefits of Engaging in Parenting Therapy
The benefits of engaging in Parenting Counseling of some form are many! And they can have a positive impact not just for you as the parent but also for your child(ren) and for generations to come.
Help you feel more confident in your role as a parent
Give you more options in communication with your child
Learn more skills to help you manage your child’s behavior
Develop greater compassion and a higher tolerance for your child’s full self expression
Facilitate a more present and engaged relationship between you and your child
Release old models from the past that may be restricting the way that you parent
Help you and your co parent or older child navigate anything in the relationship that could be improved
Getting Started with Parenting Counseling at Balanced Awakening
We are here for you whenever you would like to get started! Feel free to contact us or explore the profiles of the therapists that we have listed at the top of the page.
Dr. Yang In the Media on Parenting
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Grandma Says Once-Weekly Visits Aren't Enough to Bond With Baby—Reddit Disagrees
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The Words of Support Your Teen Needs From You — & Which You Should Skip
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How To Prioritize Family Time — When Your Family Is All Over the Place
Parenting Counseling FAQs
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Parenting counseling is any form of counseling or therapy that helps a parent, coparents, or families, navigate their parenting role. At Balanced Awakening, we primarily work with moms in individual therapy on a wide array of parenting topics and challenges across the lifespan of a child. We all help mom’s navigate complex feelings that can come up in their role as a parent. Lastly, we can utilize Imago Relationship Therapy to help coparents or adult/older child dyads navigate anything that may be coming up in the relationship.
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Pretty much anything that you as a parent are going through in your role as a parent can be aided and improved in parenting counseling. It could be that you as a parent are feeling particularly stuck at a certain point in your child’s development. Or your child may have a particular behavioral challenge that you’d like support around navigating.
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In the first two sessions, your therapist will ask you questions about your life currently, your history, and where you hope to be in the future. From there, you and your therapist will discuss goals that might specifically relate to your role as a parent. Sessions can focus on whatever you’d like the most help with at the time.
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Yes! But with some exceptions. There are 3 situations where, legally and ethically (whether we want to or not) we would have to break your confidentiality. These include if we learn of any potential child or elder abuse from you, we determine that you are at risk of harming yourself or someone else, or we receive a court order for your medical records. Also, some of our providers are under supervision and regularly consult with their supervisor about their client sessions. Supervisors have the same obligation to client confidentiality.
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Our parenting counseling rate for the first two sessions is $235. After that, individual 55 minute sessions are $210 and coparenting or family sessions are $235. Most of our providers accept BCBS PPO and Aetna insurance.
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Yes! We offer virtual parenting therapy sessions as well as in-person. Sometimes it’s easier for clients to engage in therapy virtually, especially when they are busy parents!
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The benefits of engaging in Parenting Counseling of some form are many! And they can have a positive impact not just for you as the parent but also for your child(ren) and for generations to come.
Help you feel more confident in your role as a parent
Give you more options in communication with your child
Learn more skills to help you manage your child’s behavior
Develop greater compassion and a higher tolerance for your child’s full self expression
Facilitate a more present and engaged relationship between you and your child
Release old models from the past that may be restricting the way that you parent
Help you and your co parent or older child navigate anything in the relationship that could be improved