support for parents
Parent support
Guidance, Tools, and Skills for Parents
Is your teen’s or child’s mental health struggles, societal challenges, or other general issues leaving you feeling isolated and alone?
Have you noticed that your fear, shame, guilt, or self-blame is causing stress and impacting you and your children?
Do you feel alone and isolated and you’re not sure where to turn because nobody will understand what you’re going through—or worse—they may judge you?
As parents, we tend to carry the emotional, physical, and mental burdens of our children. This causes us to feel exhausted as we place a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves to “do it right” and we tend to blame ourselves when we don’t.
When our children struggle, we struggle.
It’s time to get the help you need so you feel empowered to support them through this difficult time in their lives.
If this describes you, then I know you feel incredibly overwhelmed and alone right now because I’ve been there, too. When I had nowhere to turn during my teens’ struggles, I eventually found resources, but it was not easy–and I’m a therapist! I still didn’t feel seen or understood, yet I found a way to cope, heal, and support my kids at the same time.
After engaging in my own healing and moving through the struggles, I created a safe, supportive, and validating space for other parents, so they no longer feel isolated and alone and you can show up in an empowered way for your own kids.
Over the years I’ve helped hundreds of children, teens, and parents in similar situations. You will have moments of struggle, but the struggles no longer need to cause you to blame or shame yourself, and spiral into guilt.
Our relationships with our children and teens are THE most important relationships they will ever have. I’m so grateful to parents like you who realize the massive positive impact you will have on your children or teens if you get the support you need to evolve and feel empowered to help them. You deserve support and you don’t HAVE to do it alone.
There is no such thing as a perfect parent AND we can always improve our relationships with our children and teens!
Dawn aims to create a safe and non-judgmental space for moms, dads, and gender diverse parents who are struggling with parenting their children or teen, no matter what the issue. Dawn helps you feel supported and less isolated as you gain tools and skills to support your child or teen, so you feel confident and aligned in parenting and advocating for your kids.
She offers parent coaching support through the lens of attachment, brain development/neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology, mindful presence, exploration of emotions beneath behaviors, triggers, parents’ history, and more.
Through parenting support, I will help you:
- Get to the root of your child’s or teen’s challenging behaviors.
- Understand your child’s or teen’s underlying needs and how you can manage your triggers.
- Understand where your child may be developmentally, how neurodivergence impacts them, how that relates to behavior, and how you can support them.
- Implement tips, tools, and practices to work with your child’s challenging behavior.
- Create a close connected relationship with your child as you learn to trust your intuition.
- Understand how you may be contributing to your child’s or teen’s behavior and offer tools to shift your dynamic with them.
- Cultivate more presence and connection with your child or teen.
Dawn’s Parenting and Professional Experiences:
I have 25 years of professional experience in working for non-profits and in private settings with parents of children from pregnancy through young adulthood. I’ve also worked directly with children from ages 1 to early adulthood in settings such as pre-schools, public schools (K-12), private schools, hospitals, community agencies, and private practice.
I have 20 years of personal experience in raising (and continuing to raise) my three daughters.
I also engage in my own personal growth work to be the best woman and mother possible, so I can continue to heal my own generational patterns and raise healthy, authentic, and connected children, and support other parents to do the same.
I bring compassion, empathy, passion, clinical skills, and knowledge into our sessions as I help you navigate parenthood from a non-judgmental place and in a way that benefits your children.
Please reach out through email infoatdawnkgibsondotcom or by phone to see if we are a good fit for parenting support. I also offer individual psychotherapy to parents who want to heal trauma, childhood wounds, and/or intergenerational patterns they don’t want to pass down to their children.
I approach my work from an anti-oppressive, equitable, social justice, anti-racism, neurodivergent, and LGBTQIA+ affirming, feminist, anti-diet, body, and fat liberation perspective. Discrimination is not tolerated, and I am committed to ongoing personal and professional growth, and unlearning.
Issues that may arise include, but aren’t limited to how to:
- Set clear boundaries.
- Understand your child/teen.
- Create connection with your child or teen.
- Engage in healthy communication with your child or teen.
- See what’s not working and how to manage it.
- Feel more grounded and “in control.”
- Feel confident in dealing with temper tantrums, mood swings, and other challenging behaviors.
- Release perfectionism, guilt, and shame in parenting.
- Minimize issues you’re passing down to your children.
- Learn if it’s healthier to let her “cry it out” vs. not and the issues created by letting your baby “self-soothe.
- Understand your neurodivergent child or teen, their development, and how to support them.
- Manage depression, anxiety, trauma, or other mental health issues that impact you and your relationship with your child or teen.
- Understand your children or teens on a deeper level and how they are feeling.
- Support your child who is exploring identity and/or sexuality when you’re struggling (gender identity/expansiveness).
- Support your trans child with tranisitioning while you’re struggling— even if you accept him/her/them (non-binary, transgender, etc…).
- Support your child’s “coming out” process when you’re struggling (exploring bi/pan/lesbian, etc…).
- Help your child or teen with challenging behaviors, such as those related to PDA
- Become more present and self-regulated.
- Navigate general parenting issues regarding your baby, young child, toddler, pre-teen or teen.
Dawn has experience in helping parents whose children or teens experience the following:
- Neurodivergence
- Being part of the LGBTQIA+ community
- Being trans, non-binary, gender queer, or gender diverse and considering transitioning socially and/or medically
- PDA profile (usually includes ADHDers, AuDHDers, or Autistic people)
- Suicidal ideation or suicide attempts
- Disordered eating or eating disorders
- Behavior issues
- Anxiety or depression
- Peer Bullying or other issues
- Self-harm
- General struggles in life, relationships, and at home
Parent coaching is offered locally in Fort, Collins, CO and internationally online. See contact info below and reach out for a free consultation.
