Counselling for Parents

Feeling overwhelmed as a parent is more common than anyone admits

You can love your children more than anything and still feel completely stretched. Both things are true at the same time. Parenting stress tends to build quietly. Between work, money, school runs, family expectations and the constant mental load, there is often very little room left for you.

If you have been wondering whether what you feel is normal, or whether you are the only one finding it hard, you are not. Many of the parents I speak to are carrying a lot and have not had anywhere to put it down.

What parenting stress can look like

• Feeling tired, tense or on edge most of the time
• Snapping at the people you love and then feeling guilty afterwards
• Worrying that you are getting it wrong
• Comparing yourself to other parents
• Having no time or energy left for yourself
• Feeling pressure from a partner, extended family or an ex
• Finding it hard to switch off, even when the house is quiet

None of this means you are failing. It usually means you have been holding too much for too long.

How counselling for parents can help

Counselling gives you a space that is just for you. It is not about being told what to do or how to parent. It is about understanding what is happening underneath the stress and finding ways of coping that feel realistic for your life.

• Talking openly about overwhelm, guilt and exhaustion without feeling judged
• Looking after your own emotional wellbeing, not only everyone else's
• Making sense of family pressures, including separation, co-parenting and blended family life
• Understanding how your own childhood experiences can show up in the way you parent
• Building calmer ways of responding when things feel like too much

My approach is attachment informed, which means I am interested in how early experiences shape the way we connect with others. I bring a warm, non-judgemental style to every session.

An online counsellor in the UK who understands families

Before moving into private practice I spent several years working in schools, supporting children and the parents around them. I saw first hand how often parents were blamed and how rarely anyone asked how they were doing. That is a big part of why I do this work. I am a BACP registered counsellor and I work online with parents across the UK.

The practical bits