Parenting is an extraordinary journey filled with profound love, immense joy, inevitable challenges, moments of awe, and much more. This path becomes even more exceptional when you are caring for neurodivergent children or are neurodivergent yourself.
Caring for and embracing every aspect of your neurodivergent child is intricate work. You are constantly learning, discovering, and innovating as you navigate a world that isn’t built for your child. It’s difficult to catch a break because you can’t hit the autopilot button when the path isn’t clear. As a parent, you know you must do what is necessary to carry on.
In a world so ready to give pointers and criticism about parenting dos and don’ts, it is very easy to fall into a trap of ‘not good enough’. You can try your hardest and still feel like you are falling short. From dealing with difficulties at home to navigating layers of service systems and life transitions, parents of neurodivergent children/children with disabilities tend to sleep less and worry more; they feel more isolated and have less time to themselves. As parents meet the day-to-day and moment-to-moment demands and challenges, their own wellbeing gets put on hold. But, of course! Your child encounters unique sets of challenges as they navigate a world that is not built for their needs. It takes more effort, more advocacy, more time, more flexibility - more of oneself.
Your Needs Are Important Too
It is hard to make space for yourself when caring for others is at the top of your to do list everyday, and for many, for well beyond 18 years. However, what is equally important to caring for your child is caring for yourself and improving the quality of your own life! In order to show up for your children in ways that you prefer, you need to ensure that you are refuelling yourself.
The Ripple Effects of Caring for Yourself
The benefits of taking the time to work on your own wellbeing ripples beyond yourself. Research shows that when parents and families focus on their own well-being, positive changes are noticed in the lives of those around them, especially their children with diverse needs. As your well-being improves, so does your child’s response to treatments, engagement in the social world, and their quality of life.
How We Can Help
When feelings such as guilt, fear, overwhelm, powerlessness, and hopelessness show up, it is difficult to see beyond what is happening in the here and now. Juggling these feelings while parenting can make it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Engaging in counselling allows space for compassion, curiosity, and exploration in ways that invite care, choice, as well as creative and meaningful changes.
Many of our clients have found that talking about an experience in a different environment offers them an opportunity to explore other perspectives, organize their thoughts, process intense feelings, develop assertiveness, and make difficult decisions.
We meet you where you’re at. This means we can provide short-term services, long-term support, and anywhere in between. In short, our counsellors can support you to:
Understand your neurodivergent child’s needs and manage the impact they have on you.
Develop strategies and access resources that work for you and your neurodiverse family.
Engage in care for yourself and your family unit that is accessible for your daily reality.
Unpack what it’s like to be a neurodivergent parent or parent to a neurodivergent child.
Process and cope with stress, guilt, fear, confusion, anxiety, depression, and other experiences that can come with parenting.
Navigate the needs of yourself and your neurodiverse family.
Find ways to negotiate and balance different roles and demands.
Take control of the things you have the ability to affect.
Getting Started
Book a free consultation chat with us to find out more about our services and ways we can support you.
Keywords
Counselling for parents with neurodivergent children
Neurodivergent parent counselling
Neurodiverse family counselling
Co-Parent counselling
Siblings counselling
Counselling for caretakers and support persons
Neurodiversity-affirming counselling
Autism counselling
ADHD counselling
HSP Counselling
Chronic illness counselling