A 4-session course for loving parents:
Guidance on changing maladaptive patterns with vulnerable children

The Helpful Parent and Challenging Teen/Adult Child

Many loving, caring parents do tasks for their children that they believe are helpful:

  • Making calls or appointments for their child
  • Looking for volunteer or employment opportunities for their child
  • Lowering or removing family expectations that make their child upset
  • Avoiding or ignoring their child’s unmet tasks that are likely within their ability

Sometimes these well-intentioned actions end up becoming a barrier to the teen or adult child’s growth and independence. We often hear, “But if I don’t [make the meal, schedule the doctor appointment, etc.], my kid will never do it on their own.”

These parents often feel stuck and frustrated. They don’t know what to do (or what NOT to do) to make meaningful changes at home for themselves or their child.

QUESTIONS & REGISTRATION
call (216) 544-1321, ext. 2010
or email jkauffman@cebtohio.com

Details

When:
  • Classes are held online via Zoom, from 12-1 pm (Eastern) on Tuesdays
  • Course runs monthly or every other month, depending on demand, beginning the first Tuesday of the month.
  • Parents not ready to attend on Week 1 will wait until the next series begins.
Fee:
  • $500 for one or two parents for all four sessions

About the course

CEBT has developed a program for parents of vulnerable children that offers evidence-based education on the dynamics between parents and children. Informed by SPACE treatment and Dialectical Behavior Therapy, these sessions teach the principals of accommodation while offering concrete skills to manage the stress of parenting a vulnerable child.

We know you are loving and caring parents who are doing the best you can. Our education and support groups teach parents:

  1. How maladaptive patterns come about in the first place, and ways to redefine how you provide support.
  2. How to interact with your children with less contention and manage the stress that comes with changing expectations
  3. How to establish or change household expectations that are within reason for each family member.
  4. How to take actions that encourage both support and independence.

This four-week foundational class provides the key components needed to identify, strategize, and execute changes in parenting patterns. The sessions are cumulative and guide parents toward a concrete plan of action at the end of the four-week cycle.

Each week covers a different topic:

  • Week 1: Understanding Accommodation
  • Week 2: Validation versus Agreement
  • Week 3: Expectations and Preparation
  • Week 4: Deliberate Planning and Next Steps

QUESTIONS & REGISTRATION
call (216) 544-1321, ext. 2010
or email jkauffman@cebtohio.com

Additional Classes and Coaching

Parents seeking ongoing or individualized planning after completing the course may meet with one of our expert parenting therapists for further coaching and guidance. Parents are also eligible to attend one of the ongoing weekly meetings:

Failure to Launch Group: A weekly support and educational group for parents of young adults who are struggling to make the transition to adulthood.

Parents of Multi-diagnostic Eating Disordered Children: A weekly support and educational group for parents of teens and young adults who are struggling with multi-diagnostic eating disorders (eating disorder plus other psychiatric issues such as severe depression, self-harm, PTSD, and/or anxiety).

More Info
These weekly meetings provide two key components to lasting change:
  1. An expanded curriculum of skills that include observing and managing urges to accommodate ineffective parenting, tolerating and accepting what can’t currently be changed, addressing and changing strong emotions and thoughts, and setting appropriate limits and expectations with the child.
  2. Dedicated space for fellow parents to share accomplishments and manage the challenges in supporting their vulnerable child. Participants receive valuable feedback and support from each other and the facilitators. Designed to be highly interactive, these groups give members an opportunity to learn and practice new skills in a supportive way.

Facilitator:

Amy Kalasunas, LPCC-S, NCC, CCMHC, DBT-LBC Certified Clinician
Chief Operating Officer and Director of DBT Training and Services

Kalasunas, LPCC-S, CCMHC, has worked with parents in individual and group settings for decades, helping them tackle and successfully overcome difficult dynamics with their children.