What’s different about this approach? Unlike other approaches, Parenting by Connection emphasizes parent-to-parent listening tools to reduce the stress of parenting. When we can talk about what parenting is like with someone who will listen with warmth and attention and not offer advice or critique the things we say or the choices we make, we can figure out big challenges that arise with our children and we can reduce the stress, the worries, the isolation, and the frustrations that often build as we parent.
In addition, Parenting by Connection helps parents and caregivers listen to tears and tantrums without becoming reactive. By using the “listening tools” that this approach offers, we can make room for our children’s upsets and big emotions, but not accept all of their behaviors. Listening to a child’s feelings when they’re upset helps them to think clearly more quickly, helps their brain develop well throughout childhood and adolescence, builds resilience, and develops trust between you and your little one that will last as your relationship grows. This approach helps parents remain warm, engaged, and connected while setting the limits their children need.
While other parenting styles may be effective in altering your child’s behavior in the short term, they are not associated with the long-term benefits of Parenting by Connection. These benefits include: a strong parent-child connection, emotional intelligence, and heightened resiliency. Parenting by Connection offers playful and loving approaches for understanding and working with children’s emotions, and helping parents build more rewarding relationships and resilient families.
When parents use Parenting by Connection, their children make smarter choices, not out of fear of punishment, but because they are less stressed and more attuned. Their children build confidence in themselves, which allows them to act from their own values and not those of their peers.
Whether your child is two, twelve, or twenty, research shows that a close parent-child connection throughout childhood and beyond is the strongest factor in preventing a variety of health and social problems. Parenting by Connection is one of only a few approaches that effectively connects parents and children and provides a “super protective factor” through the ongoing use of listening tools. Parenting by Connection supports parents throughout their journey so that we can be the parents we want to be.