"Who knew the hardest part would be letting go?"

I thought about these words, spoken by one of my clients during a session just before the holidays, as I watched my oldest child pack up yesterday to return to his university.

In that session, she had acknowledged her own anxiety, when it comes to parenting teens. How difficult it is to trust that they will be safe out in the world, when as a parent, the risks and fears are so front of mind. I agreed with how difficult this can be, especially when those kids have faced additional challenges, such as mental health struggles or exceptionalities. Yet, letting them have more independence and gradually separate from us is a key developmental task.

This is when we reflected on how when they were little, there were many struggles, but this stage of adolescence presents a whole different challenge. "Joanne, who knew the hardest part would be letting go?" We both sat with that for a moment, feeling the weight of the emotions involved with loving others so fiercely, but sometimes needing to let go.

As I watched my son head back to university, and felt some sadness, I remembered this conversation and thought about how this is a normal and healthy part of the family life cycle, and that I am not alone in the mix of emotions involved in letting go.

I imagine that my clients sometimes may remember something I said in session as they go about their lives (in fact, they often tell me that they do!), but they may not know that I also reflect on what I have learned from them, or moments we share together in therapy. It is one of many rewarding aspects of the therapeutic relationship.

As I reflect on the past year, I am grateful for my therapy practice and all the wonderful families that trust me with their feelings and life experiences. It's truly a privilege to do this work that I love so much.

If you are a client reading this, or a colleague who refers to me, thank you for your trust in me. I am so appreciative.

Upcoming EFFT-based Parent Support Group

I am excited to start up the EFFT-based Parent Support group once again at the end of this month!

Looking back, the November group sessions were very rewarding, and I received some helpful feedback from participants at the end of our time together. Parents shared that they felt more confident speaking to their kids about emotions. They also spoke about the value in being with others who are experiencing similar challenges. The connections made and deeper learning that occurs in groups is really unique and motivates me to keep developing this service. I was also happy to offer new videos, handouts and slides as resources to complement the live Zoom sessions.

Group begins again January 25th, from 12-1:30pm. This group will occur for 6 weeks in a row. This time I am creating a focus on supporting parents of school-age children, between the ages of 4-11. The therapeutic approaches being taught can of course be used with teenagers as well, but we will be discussing situations that are more relatable for the younger age group.

Check out the link below for all the info about this skills-based support group! And please reply to this email to let me know if you would like to register.

Group info here

Free resource!

As a thank you for being here, I would like to share one of the resources from the parent support group. This is a document containing "scripts", which are specific therapeutic conversations you can have with your child. It provides you with word-for-word examples of how to respond when you feel at a loss as to what to say to support your child in tricky situations.

Of course, the context provided by group is very helpful, but I hope this gives those interested in learning more about emotion-focused interventions an idea of what we work on together during group sessions.

Check out the link below to access the guide:

Free "Scripts" download

More to come later this month, as I am planning a free webinar all about how to repair hurts in relationships.

Sincerely, Joanne